Pfizer vaccine can be stored in regular freezers, company says

The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine faced severe limitations for the first few months of its distribution because it had to be stored in an ultracold freezer — something everyday clinics and impromptu vaccine centers don't have.

But the two companies revised that guidance on Friday, saying the vaccines only need to be stored in a regular freezer, The Wall Street Journal reports. They're now looking to officially change the vaccine's storage guidance with the Food and Drug Administration. That will likely make it possibly for more distribution centers, as well as poorer countries that lack specialized freezers, to stock the vaccine, and make transporting the doses easier as well.

Researchers on Thursday also found Pfizer's vaccine grants 92.6 percent immunity against the virus after just one dose, suggesting the U.S. should try to get first shots to more people before moving on with the second dose. A peer-reviewed study from Israel out Friday meanwhile found it was 85 percent effective in preventing infection 15 to 28 days after it's administered.

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