NEW STORAGE CONDITIONS FOR Pfizer-BioNTech VACCINE

NEW STORAGE CONDITIONS FOR Pfizer-BioNTech VACCINE

Subject : Science & tech

Context : The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended a change to the approved storage conditions of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine which changes the way these vaccines are handled in vaccination centres across the European Union (EU).

Concept :

• With the new recommendations, an unopened thawed vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can be stored between 2-8 degrees Celsius for up to a month, which means that it can be stored in a regular refrigerator once it has been taken out of the deep freeze.
• Before this, an unopened thawed vaccine vial could be kept in a regular refrigerator for a period of only up to five days.
• This increased flexibility in storing and handling of the vaccines is expected to positively impact the vaccine rollout in the EU, which has faced some problems since the vaccination drive started.

Why do mRNA vaccines need to be stored at such low temperatures?

• mRNA vaccines need to be stored at much lower temperatures than some other kind of COVID-19 vaccines because RNA is much less stable than DNA, which is due to the sugars that their molecules are made up of.
• The second reason for the relative instability of RNA is because of its shape, which is a single strand, while DNA is expressed as a double-stranded helix.