Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine Won't Be at Local Pharmacy Any Time Soon
Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) need to get regulators to sign off on the shot before it can start shipping vaccines to those considered most in need by government. Healthcare workers and people living in nursing homes will likely top that list.
But the vaccine's complex and super-cold storage requirements are an obstacle for even the most sophisticated hospitals in the United States and may impact when and where it is available in rural areas or poor countries where resources are tight.
The main issue is that the vaccine, which is based on a novel technology that uses synthetic mRNA to activate the immune system against the virus, needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below.
"The cold chain is going to be one of the most challenging aspects of delivery of this vaccination," said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
"This will be a challenge in all settings because hospitals even in big cities do not have storage facilities for a vaccine at that ultra-low temperature."
Indeed, one of the most prestigious U.S. hospitals, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said it does not currently have that capability.
"We're talking about a vaccine that needs storage at minus 70 or 80. That's a tremendous logistical issue not only in the U.S. but outside the Western world," said Dr Gregory Poland, a virologist and vaccine researcher with the Mayo Clinic.
"We're a major medical center and we don't have storage capacity like this. That will be true for everybody. This is a logistical obstacle."
Pfizer spokeswoman Kim Bencker said the company was working closely with the U.S. government and state officials on how to ship the vaccine from its distribution centers in the United States, Germany and Belgium around the globe.
The detailed plan includes using dry ice to transport frozen vaccine vials by both air and land at their recommended temperatures for up to 10 days, she said.................
Ballots are still being sorted, segregated and counted. Legal challenges are in play. Electoral college hasn't voted, so NO BIDEN IS NOT PRESIDENT. Since when does a lying, corrupt media declare the winner?
online today!Conrad73 Forum Posts (59,466)
RE: Dark Winter
If Biden wins,its right around the corner!