US FDA extends Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine expiry date

BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 1 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: US Food and Drug administration has updated the expiry date of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by three months, Trend reports citing the FDA. Thus, in the updated ‘Storage and Handling’ rules recently published by FDA, it is said that cartons and vials of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine with an expiry date of May 2021 through February 2022 printed on the label may remain in use for 3 months beyond the printed date. Thus, now the approved expiry date of the frozen vial of the Pfizer vaccine is 9 months since the production date. “Within the 9-month shelf-life unopened vials may be stored and transported at -25 °C to -15 °C for a single period of up to 2 weeks and can be returned to -90 °C to -60 °C,” the report said. The Pfizer vaccine has been used in Azerbaijan as part of the vaccination against COVID-19 since June 7. On December 31, 2020, the World Health Organization approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine jointly produced by Phizer and BioNTech. This is the first vaccine against COVID-19 officially approved by the organization.