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Expiration date of Pfizer vaccines extended to October

25 Jul 2022

By Buddhika Samaraweera The Ministry of Health has decided to extend the expiry date of a stock of US-German-made Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine belonging to four batches and due to expire on 31 July, by three months, The Morning learnt. The decision to extend the expiry date of Pfizer vaccines belonging to four batches, due to expire on 31 July, until 31 October has been communicated by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena to the Deputy Directors General (DDGs) of the Colombo and Kandy General Hospitals, the Provincial and Regional Directors of Health Services, the Directors and Superintendents of Provincial General, District General, and Base Hospitals, and the Directors of Public Health Programmes in a circular dated 22 July.  The circular, which was seen by The Morning, read: “As per communication by the Director of the Regulation and Prequalification Department of World Health Organisation (WHO) to the Director, Supply Division of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the recommendation on the shelf-life of the COMIRNATY (the trade name of the Pfizer vaccine) Covid-19 vaccine has been extended from nine to 12 months for unopened vials stored at temperatures between -90°C and and 60°C.” Dr. Gunawardena further stated that the relevant variation has been conveyed to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) by the Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs of the Pfizer India office, adding the NMRA has conveyed its recommendation that the shelf life of the Pfizer vaccines belonging to the said four batches can be extended until 31 October as the approved storage conditions have been guaranteed throughout the supply chain of the product. In view of the recommendation of the NMRA, the Health Ministry stated that it has decided to extend the expiry date of the Pfizer vaccines belonging to the batches FN 5436 which has been manufactured on 8 November 2021, FN 2898 which has been manufactured on 24 November 2021, and FM 9281 and FM 5450 both of which have been manufactured on 17 November 2021, which are due to expire on 31 July, until 31 October.  Accordingly, Dr. Gunawardena had requested the recipients of the circular to communicate the matter with the relevant officials in their institution/province/district and take necessary measures to continue the Covid-19 vaccination programme as per the relevant guidelines that have been issued previously. Dr. Gunawardena, Health Ministry's Communication Director, Public Health Services Deputy Director General (DDG), and Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Head Dr. Hemantha Herath, and Health Ministry's Medical Technology Services Director and Co-ordinator in Charge of Covid-19 Operations Dr. Anver Hamdani were not available for comment.  Sri Lanka is currently administering the Pfizer vaccine as the first, the second, the third, and the fourth Covid-19 vaccine doses. As per the data available on the Epidemiology Unit’s website as of 21 July, a total of 11,638,927 Pfizer vaccines have been administered in Sri Lanka including 2,611,820 as first doses, 1,008,045 as second doses, 8,003,782 as third doses, and 15,280 as fourth doses.


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