Which of the following statements is/are correct with reference to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine?
A. According to European Medicines Agency (EMA) an unopened thawed vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can be stored between 2-8 degrees Celsius for up to a month.
B. mRNA vaccines need to be stored at much lower temperatures than some other kind of COVID-19 vaccines.
C. Both A & B
D. None of these
Explanation:
Recently, European Medicines Agency’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has recommended a change to the approved storage conditions of Comirnaty, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer that will facilitate the handling of the vaccine in vaccination centres across the European Union (EU). 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. 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.
