Over the years…well last couple decades I’ve been getting my shots at my local pharmacist, from flue shots and other medication to tetanus shots. It was something that I’ve started doing since I only had catastrophic insurance and I pay out of pocket.
Now I understand that Pfizer has to keep there vaccine at such a low temperature I’m somewhat concern about it’s safety. Do local pharmacist have ability to store it safely for consumers?
We were talking about 2 Alaska cases…which might be the cause of those two negative reaction/sides effects.
I might be able to help out if I can. But I’m only in undergrad, so I haven’t even attempted to get into medical school yet. But if I have the answer, I’ll give it my best shot.
How does the Pfizer vaccine correlate to the incidences of Bell’s Palsy? I originally thought that BP was genetic, since it concerns the activity and formation of the 7th cranial nerve.
Does the Pfizer vaccine alter or damage this nerve in some way? I know it targets mRNA which would cause cells to present part of the virus’ glycoprotein (the “spikes” or surface structures that allow it to attach to host cells), but I don’t know how this translates to Bell’s Palsy.
I’m with Kaiser Permanente and I was reading their FAQ on vaccines and there was question if KP would be doing vaccinations and they replied with:
Each state department of health is choosing facilities and health care organizations to provide the vaccine. Kaiser Permanente has applied to provide the vaccine in every region we serve, and we’ll begin offering it to people who are eligible as soon as we’re able to do so.
So based on this I assume the health departments will confirm that any location that will be providing vaccinations has the appropriate storage equipment.
No preservatives in any traditional sense. That’s the reason the must be kept frozen. They are basically the mRNA, lipids for delivery and buffers to make sure the injection is physiologic.
Here are the formulations of the two vaccines:
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine is a white to off-white, sterile, preservative-free, frozen suspension for intramuscular injection. The vaccine contains a nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (modRNA) encoding the viral spike glycoprotein (S) of SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine also includes the following ingredients: lipids ((4-hydroxybutyl)azanediyl)bis(hexane-6,1-diyl)bis(2- hexyldecanoate), 2-[(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide, 1,2-distearoyl-sn- glycero-3-phosphocholine, and cholesterol), potassium chloride, monobasic potassium phosphate, sodium chloride, dibasic sodium phosphate dihydrate, and sucrose.
The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine is a white to off-white, sterile, preservative-free frozen suspension for intramuscular injection. The vaccine contains a synthetic messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) encoding the pre-fusion stabilized spike glycoprotein (S) of SARS-CoV-2 virus. The vaccine also contains the following ingredients: lipids (SM-102, 1,2-dimyristoyl-rac-glycero- 3-methoxypolyethylene glycol-2000 [PEG2000-DMG], cholesterol, and 1,2-distearoyl-sn- glycero-3-phosphocholine [DSPC]), tromethamine, tromethamine hydrochloride, acetic acid, sodium acetate, and sucrose.
So I wonder why it has to be stored at -90F. That’s awfully darned cold. It requires two or three stage compressors. And just as curious, why does the Moderna vaccine not require that extreme of low temperatures?
Back in the 80s, I operated a guarded hot box (an apparatus used to measure heat loss of wall sections and fenestration) that was capable of temperatures down to -55F. The refrigeration unit was very expensive, fairly complicated to run, and took over an hour to achieve -50F in about 120 cubic feet of space. I’m sure cold technology has improved since then, but still, those type of freezers have got to be expensive and, I expect, temperamental.
I wonder if labs in Alaska don’t need freezers. They just say, “just put the vials and microtesttubes outside and bury them in some snow until tomorrow morning.”
Here’s an article about that. Seems it has to do with the lipids that are used.
Because the specific formulations are secret, Liu says, it’s not clear exactly why these two mRNA vaccines have different temperature requirements.
“It just comes down to what their data is,” she says of Moderna’s vaccine. “If their data shows that it’s more stable at a certain temperature, that’s it.”
Moderna spokesperson Colleen Hussey explained to NPR in an email that its vaccine doesn’t need to be kept so cold because of its particular “lipid nanoparticle properties and structure,” and because the company has learned from experience — it’s developed ten mRNA vaccine candidates already. “Now we don’t need [ultra-cold conditions] as the quality of product has improved and [it] doesn’t need to be highly frozen to avoid mRNA degradation,” Hussey explained.
