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Frost on ampoules from Biontech and Pfizer: Temperatures of up to minus 20 degrees are sufficient in the USA
Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
The corona vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer is actually supposed to be transported and stored at minus 80 to minus 60 degrees Celsius, and the US drug regulatory authority has now relaxed its regulations.
The vaccine no longer has to be stored at such low temperatures, said the FDA.
The vaccine can now be stored in the USA for up to two weeks in the usual pharmaceutical freezers at temperatures of down to minus 20 degrees.
The FDA wants to ease the work of the vaccination centers and the supply of vaccination doses with the relaxation.
The vaccination centers would no longer have to purchase special freezers suitable for extremely low temperatures, explained FDA expert Peter Marks.
Companies requested the change
Even modern hospitals were often unable to meet the previous requirements.
Pfizer therefore developed a special transport box in which the vaccines can be stored for up to 30 days - and applied to the FDA to relax the regulation of vaccine storage.
The US company presented data according to which the vaccine remains stable in its effectiveness even at lower minus temperatures of minus 25 to minus 15 degrees.
These temperatures could be maintained by common pharmaceutical freezers and refrigerators, said Biontech and Pfizer.
While vaccines are now becoming easier to handle in the USA, storage in ultra-freezers at temperatures between minus 80 and minus 60 degrees is still required in Germany.
If the vaccine can also be stored in normal freezers in this country, this would make vaccination easier outside of the large vaccination centers with special infrastructure.
Then the Biontech Pfizer vaccine could possibly soon be administered by family doctors.
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apr / AFP
