Coronavirus: PAHO warned region “not ready” to handle vaccines requiring very low storage temperatures

A scientist is working on the development of a vaccine against COVID-19 (Photo: AFP / Philippe LOPEZ).

The deputy director of Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa, warned this Wednesday that the region “Is not ready” manage vaccinations which require storage at very low temperatures.

The specialist made this observation about antidotes coronavirus like that developed by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which must be preserved -70 ° C.

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Accessed this Wednesday during a PAHO briefing on the capacity of the region To preserve this type of vaccine, Barbosa expressed: “No health system in the Caribbean or South America is ready to manage them.”

However, the official did not confine this difficulty to the American continentInstead, he said the United States and Europe will also need to prepare if they decide to immunize their populations with this class of antidotes.

“Of the ten vaccines in ‘phase 3’, two use this technology. It is a very new technique which consists in using the genetic material of the virus: messenger RNA. There is no other vaccine in the world that has the same characteristics, and they must be stored at -70 ° C. Then all the countries which use them will have to prepare themselves, ”he explained.

However, he also recalled that eight other substances currently at an advanced stage of investigation “They can be managed with the cold chains that exist today in any country”.

Later, Barbosa again referred to ‘messenger RNA’ vaccines and emphasized: ‘The problem with them will not be the immunization rooms, as they don’t need to be frozen at -70 ° C and they can be stored at temperatures between 2 ° C and 8 ° C for up to five days. The problem will be central warehouses and transport, where it will be necessary to open an investment in the whole world ”.

Pfizer Response

Faced with the difficulties reported by experts regarding this type of vaccine, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer assured that has special preservatives maintain the cold chain and promised to make the transfer doses to each country.

In this sense, the deputy director of PAHO himself stressed: “A few days ago, during a meeting we held, the producer reported that develop smaller teams maintain the temperature of antidotes during storage and transport ”.

And he insisted: “Today no one in the world is prepared for a vaccine with these characteristics. So until the substance is approved and available, countries should take measures to strengthen, replace and acquire new storage and transport mechanisms and equipmenteven the richest nations ”.