Thailand extends expiration dates of Covid-19 vaccines, after 3 companies re-register

The Public Health Ministry has directed hospitals to adjust the expiration dates of Covid-19 vaccines in their inventory according to each company’s new registration rules. Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines will all be extended.

Deputy permanent secretary for Public Health, Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, notified all public health chiefs last week, instructing them to reset the expiration dates of vaccine doses and adjust their inventories. With the new change, Pfizer and AstraZeneca expiration dates will both be extended to nine months, while Sinovac will be extended to a year. Before the change, the shelf life was set at 6 months for all brands.

The three companies had previously registered under the FDA’s Conditional Approval for Emergency Use of Medical Products, which permitted medical products to have a shelf life of just six months. Since the companies re-registered their vaccines for non-emergency use, they’re now being labeled with regular expiration dates. We only wonder how many “expired” vaccines Thailand has discarded since the pandemic began…

SOURCE: Nation