The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the storage of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at standard freezer temperatures for up to a month, in a bid to make the vaccine available more extensively.

Unopened, thawed vials can now be stored in a refrigerator at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for up to a month, increasing from an earlier limit of 5 days. Peter Marks, director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said, “This change should make this vaccine more widely available to the American public by facilitating the ability of vaccine providers, such as community doctors’ offices, to receive, store and administer the vaccine.”The change is particularly significant for global and remote facilities in the U.S. having poor transport and storage infrastructure… (Reuters, May 20, 2021)