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Preparatory work for the distribution of the experimental Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is already beginning to take place. However, it is expected that its necessary conservation at minus 70 degrees makes its storage and consequent application difficult.
Despite the fact that the North American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German biotechnology company BioNTech announced, this Monday, that the vaccine they have developed presents preliminary successful results, 90% effective in preventing the new coronavirus, this should not soon reach the community pharmacies for the general public.
With the final results of the test for a large group of people to arrive at the end of this month, Pfizer and BioNTech still need regulatory approval before starting to distribute the vaccine., which must arrive first at priority groups defined by the government of each country. But nevertheless, The complex requirements for storing this vaccine at ultra-low temperatures are a stumbling block for even the most sophisticated hospitals in rich countries.and additional difficulties are anticipated in rural areas and poor countries, where resources are scarce.
The main problem is that this vaccine, which is based on a new technology that uses synthetic mRNA to activate the immune system against the virus, must be maintained in Minus 70 degrees Celsius or less. “The cold chain will be one of the most challenging aspects of the distribution of this vaccine,” Amesh Adalja, an academic at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety, told Reuters. “It will be a challenge in all settings, because hospitals, even in large cities, do not have storage facilities for a vaccine at this ultra-low temperature,” he explains.
One of the most prestigious hospitals in the United States, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, has said that it currently does not have this capacity. “We are talking about a vaccine that has to be stored at minus 70 or 80 degrees. This is a tremendous logistical problem, not only in the US, but also outside the Western world,” says Gregory Poland, virologist and vaccine researcher from May. Clinic. “We are a reference medical center and we do not have storage capacity for this. This will be a reality for everyone. This is a logistical obstacle”, he adds.
Some states in the US have declared that they lack ultra-cold refrigerators, according to public documents registered with the US Centers for Disease Control.
Lasts up to five days between 2 and 8 degrees
Pfizer spokeswoman Kim Bencker has said the company is working closely with the US government and state authorities on how to ship the vaccine from its distribution centers in the US, Germany and Germany. Belgium to the rest of the world. The plan is to use dry ice to transport frozen vaccine bottles at recommended temperatures, either by air or by land, for up to 10 days, he explains.
National health services and local providers will be responsible for storing and administering the vaccines, once delivered. They can be stored in an ultra-low temperature refrigerator for up to six months. Or even just five days, between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, a common type of refrigeration in hospitals, that breaks down after that, according to Kim Bencker. BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told Reuters that the companies are considering whether to extend that deadline to two weeks.
Moderna’s vaccine, based on similar technology, does not need to be stored at such a low temperature. Other vaccines that are also being tested, including those from Johnson & Johnson and Novavax, can be stored between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, the temperature of a common refrigerator.
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