Khairy: Pfizer must submit new data showing vaccine stable for two weeks at -20’C for NPRA approval

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. -filepic

PETALING JAYA: New data must be assessed before the Pfizer vaccine is allowed to be stored at higher temperatures here in Malaysia, says Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

This comes as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently granted approval for more flexible storage of Pfizer’s Comirnaty vaccine, allowing it to be stored at normal freezer temperatures.

“The FDA has just given approval for Pfizer vaccines to be stored at higher temperatures which is -20’C, and this will help with our logistics management. (However) the conditional license that Pfizer has received from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency is based on -80’C storage conditions.

“So Pfizer needs to submit the new data to the NPRA that shows that the vaccine is stable for two weeks at -20’C for it to approve, ” he said during a press conference at KL International Airport after the CoronaVac vaccines arrived on Saturday (Feb 27).

He also said the details on the arrival of the second batch of the Pfizer vaccine such as the number of doses will also be available soon.

“We will give updates on the Pfizer vaccines after the meeting with the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee on Monday, ” he said.

It was previously reported that Malaysia was to receive another 182,520 doses of Pfizer’s Comirnaty vaccine on Wednesday (Feb 24).