The inoculum is cooled in the factory at -90 to -60 degrees Celsius. Transportation is possible at a temperature of -25 and -15 degrees. “Then you have to put it back in a freezer that can cool from -90 to -60,” explains a Pfizer spokesperson. Or, you can keep it at fridge temperature for another five days. This storage time has now been extended to one month. ”Currently, the vaccine is not used by general practitioners in the Netherlands, because many practices do not have the correct freezers to store the vaccine for more than five days.
The spokesperson said: “These guidelines were put in place at the beginning of the epidemic, when we still had little data on the vaccine and had to rely on the safer option.” So much data is now available that it has become clear that the vaccine can be stored in the refrigerator for a month. “This is not only good news for medical practitioners, but it will make use of the vaccine easier for countries that do not have many low-temperature freezers.”
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not yet granted approval to extend the storage time in refrigerator temperature. Kaptein hopes the approval will come before the end of this month.
