The Union health ministry on Tuesday said the cold-chain requirements of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer posed a big challenge ...
The Union health ministry on Tuesday said the cold-chain requirements of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer posed a big challenge to India’s mass-vaccination campaign, but the government is examining all possibilities for its procurement, reported PTI.
Pfizer’s vaccine, which was shown to be more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 based on initial data, must be shipped and stored at freezing temperatures of -70 degrees Celsius from the moment they are bottled to the time they are ready to be injected. This is significantly lower than the standard 2-8 degrees Celsius storage requirement.
Experts have also pointed that the vaccine uses messenger RNA based technology (mRNA stands for messenger ribonucleic acids which translate DNA information into proteins involved in bodily functions), which would make the vaccines expensive in developing countries like India.
At a press briefing, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul, who also heads the National Task Force on coronavirus, said sufficient doses of the Pfizer vaccine will not be available as required by India’s population anytime soon. However, the government will work out a strategy for its procurement and distribution in case it gets the regulatory approvals, he said.
“The arrangement of cold-chains for storing the vaccine developed by Pfizer...
