Keeping Pfizer vaccine at -70 degree Celsius a challenge for India, says AIIMS director
Delhi AIIMS director on Wednesday said Pfizer's potential coronavirus vaccine has to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius, which will be a challenge for developing countries like India. Speaking to news agency ANI, Dr Randeep Guleria said, Pfizer vaccine has to be kept at -70C which is a challenge for developing countries like India where we'll have difficulties in maintaining a cold chain, especially on rural missions. Overall encouraging news in vaccine research for those in Phase III trials."
On November 9, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said their vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19.
"Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine's ability to prevent COVID-19," Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said.
The shots made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech are among 10 possible vaccine candidates in late-stage testing around the world -- four of them so far in huge studies in the US.
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.
Guleria also spoke about the reasons Delhi has been witnessing a sudden flare up in coronavirus cases.
"We're seeing a surge of Covid-19 cases in Delhi. Super spreading events, which are big crowds with attendees not taking precautions must have happened here. So we need to work aggressively towards curbing this number," he said.
