By Sue-Ann Wayow
NOW that the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccines has a new expiration date and storage temperature, Government will need to be meticulous in changing the information on the vaccine packaging.
At the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 response presser on Wednesday, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) representative to Trinidad and Tobago Dr Erica Wheeler went into details about the expiration of Covid-19 vaccines that now has an extended shelf life of nine months.
“This is not something unusual to have their shelf life extended… It has nothing to do with any safety risk when we extend the shelf life of a vaccine,” she said.
Dr Wheeler added that vaccines for other uses can be extended for up to three years.
In Parliament on October 11, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said, “The Pfizer vaccine came with an initial expiry date of November 2021. However, WHO and PAHO have extended that now by three months so we can use them until February 2022.”
He said the AstraZeneca vaccines expire in October and November, Johnson & Johnson in 2023, and Sinopharm in June 2023.
Dr Wheeler said the revised expiration date approval from WHO and other health governing bodies does apply to the 300,000 plus Pfizer vaccines received from the US.
Dr Wheeler said some of the critical areas that are being monitored and recorded are the temperatures of the freezers in which the vaccines are being kept which was important for storage and distribution.
The storage degrees for the Pfizer vaccine have also been adjusted.
Before mixing, the vaccine may be stored in an ultra-cold freezer between -90°C and -60°C (-130°F and -76°F). Before mixing, the vaccine may be stored in the freezer between -25°C and -15°C (-13°F to 5°F) for up to 2 weeks. Additionally, Before mixing, the vaccine may be stored in the refrigerator between 2°C and 8°C (36°F and 46°F) for up to 1 month (31 days).
Dr Wheeler said, “When the vaccine is moved to two to eight centigrades, there needs to be labelling of the secondary packaging and record of the new expiry date and therefore the government needs to be prepared to take these steps in order to ensure that there is adequate labelling, accurate labelling of the new dates of expiry of the vaccines.”
