Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine needs to be kept in -70 °C
Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine needs to be kept in -70 °C
Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine needs to be kept in -70 °C for storage and transport. This is a big challenge for many medical institions.
On November 9th, Pfizer announced that the new coronavirus mRNA vaccine (code-named BNT162b2) jointly developed with the German biotech company BioNTech has shown that it can prevent 90% of infections in a phase III clinical trial.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration stipulates that the COVID-19 vaccine has a protective effect of 50%, and the protective effect of ordinary influenza vaccine is generally more than 70%. The 90% protection effect has greatly boosted global confidence in defeating the epidemic.
However, due to the characteristics of mRNA, its storage and transportation must be in an ultra-low temperature environment. If vaccines can be mass-produced smoothly, shipping effective vaccines to all parts of the world is the next challenge.
According to current research, Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine can be stored in an ultra-low temperature freezer at -70°C for 6 months, in Pfizer’s special insulated transport box with continuous dry ice, and can be stored for 15 days in a hospital refrigerator at 2 to 8°C It can only be stored for 5 days.
Storage at extremely low temperatures of -70°C is common in research laboratories, but many medical centers do not have such equipment, and developing countries and economically underdeveloped areas lack such equipment.
Some people who have been engaged in the vaccine cold chain transportation industry for a long time pointed out that there is currently no ready-made capacity in this field that can reach -70℃.
According to Fosun Pharma, which has obtained the exclusive agency rights in China, the cold chain temperature of the vaccine must reach -70℃, and the commonly used hepatitis B vaccine, rabies vaccine, and varicella vaccine storage conditions are 2℃ to 8℃ or 2℃ to 10℃ , Some freeze-dried powder vaccines in special temperature zones, such as freeze-dried measles vaccine, are stored at -20℃.
Wu Yifang, Chairman of Fosun Pharma, said that Fosun Pharma has built a minus 70 degrees Celsius cold storage near the airport. After the vaccines are imported from abroad and arrive in China, they will be stored in the cold storage as soon as possible. Transported to inoculation points all over the country under the condition of ℃.
The vaccination point will be equipped with a medical-grade cryogenic refrigerator; in terms of use, the vaccine can be placed in an environment of 2°C to 8°C for 5 days. The grass-roots vaccination points will also be equipped with refrigerators, which have been systematically demonstrated in terms of quantity and price, and will not constitute an access barrier.
