Study: Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine can be restored at normal freezer temperatures

On Friday, medical firms Pfizer and BioNTech published a new study showing the impact of the vaccine after storing it at normal freezer temperatures for two weeks.

The study asserted that the Pfizer vaccine remains effective after storing in normal freezers for two weeks.

The initial data about the Pfizer vaccine showed that it should be restored at -70°C which requires expensive and specialized freezers to keep the vaccine doses.

Therefore, the firm developed a shopping box cooled by dry ice that could keep the required temperatures for the vaccine doses.

However, the new study that showed the possibility of storing the vaccine between –15°C and –25°C can make the distribution of the vaccine doses somehow easier.

Moreover, the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine showed 92.6% efficacy compared with 95% efficacy after both doses.

Researchers Dana Skowronski and Gason De Serres expressed that 'the benefits derived from a scarce supply of vaccine could be maximized by deferring second doses until all priority group members are offered at least one dose.” This approach was tried early in the U.K. as part of efforts to speed vaccinations, helping it achieve the third-highest national first-dose vaccination rate in the world.'

It is expected that the new data would be revised by the FDA before changing the regulations of distributions.