--- title: FDA Extends Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Storage Time to 30 Days description: Previously, once thawed, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine could only be stored in a refrigerator for five days. Now, it can be kept for a month. canonical: https://time.com/6049966/pfizer-biontech-vacccine-refrigeration-storage-time/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-05-20T14:36:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:11:58.323Z article:section: Health og:title: FDA Extends Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Refrigeration Storage Time og:description: Previously, once thawed, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine could only be stored in a refrigerator for five days. Now, it can be kept for a month. og:url: https://time.com/6049966/pfizer-biontech-vacccine-refrigeration-storage-time/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte50bad45830bdc35/698a19b9096a942b2e6a9639/GettyImages-1232019625-e1621521071925.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1600 og:image:height: 900 og:image:alt: FRANCE-HEALTH-VIRUS-VACCINES-DELIVERY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FDA Extends Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Refrigeration Storage Time twitter:description: Previously, once thawed, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine could only be stored in a refrigerator for five days. Now, it can be kept for a month. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte50bad45830bdc35/698a19b9096a942b2e6a9639/GettyImages-1232019625-e1621521071925.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # FDA Extends Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Refrigeration Storage Time to 30 Days > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=56fcf618-ebc6-4cd5-8434-f4a53411de80&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Making the COVID-19 Vaccine: A 50,000 step process [Watch (HLS stream): Making the COVID-19 Vaccine: A 50,000 step process](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XGIqdw9j.m3u8) (7:28)  _Published 2021-04-18. Inside BioNTech's quest to vaccinate the world_  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent May 20, 2021 2:36 PM UTC Inside BioNTech's quest to vaccinate the world  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent May 20, 2021 2:36 PM UTC On May 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [extended the time](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-brief-fda-authorizes-longer-time-refrigerator-storage-thawed-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine) that Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine can be stored in the refrigerator. The vaccine, which people get in two doses, still needs to be shipped frozen at ultra-cold temperatures in the companies’ special thermal shipping container. Doses can be kept frozen in these containers for up to 30 days as long as dry ice is used to maintain temperatures of around -70°C (-94°F). Once thawed, the vaccine doses can now be kept in a refrigerator for up to one month. Previously, the emergency use authorization issued by the FDA only allowed the vaccine to be stored, thawed, in a [refrigerator for five days](https://www.pfizer.com/news/hot-topics/covid%5F19%5Fvaccine%5Fu%5Fs%5Fdistribution%5Ffact%5Fsheet). The longer refrigeration time was authorized by the FDA after the agency reviewed data provided by Pfizer-BioNTech showing the vaccine remained stable and viable under refrigerated conditions for up to one month. More pharmacies, doctors’ offices and smaller health centers have access to refrigeration than they do the ultra-cold freezers required for longer term storage of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, so the FDA’s decision will give those who are now administering vaccines more flexibility in managing their doses. The FDA also recently [allowed children as young as 12 to get vaccinated](https://time.com/6047384/teens-pfizer-covid-vaccine/), and the federal government is shipping vaccines directly to pediatricians’ and doctors’ offices to increase access to vaccinations for everyone who is eligible for the shot. The companies are also working on a version of their COVID-19 vaccine that does [not need to be frozen](https://time.com/6023398/pfizer-biontech-vaccine-smaller-packaging/) at all but can be shipped and stored under refrigerated conditions. ## Transcript [00:01] oh yes yes i'm vaccinated yes [00:06] Very cool [00:10] yes [00:11] yeah [00:12] yes, I did [00:13] it was very cool to to know [00:15] okay I'm gonna be vaccinated with a vaccine that I know really from day one [00:26] I mean who can tell that they're part of the solution for such a pandemic situation [00:30] I guess only a few people can say that and I'm really happy to be part of that [00:51] If you've been vaccinated for COVID-19, chances are that you are benefiting from the science [00:56] happening here at the German biotech company BioNtech. [01:00] In December 2020 BioNtech in partnership with Pfizer [01:04] were the first to earn authorization to distribute their vaccine to the public [01:17] In March 2021 TIME spent a week watching how BioNtech makes a batch [01:22] of 8 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at their new manufacturing plant in Marburg [01:29] they expect to produce 1 billion doses a year [01:44] the pace of production has been breakneck from the start [01:48] So in 2020 I think we worked [01:51] at every holiday, I can remember Easter Saturday I was standing here pipetting [01:55] samples to have the results as soon as possible [01:59] and now 24-hour shifts in this lab are producing [02:03] vaccines that will be shipped around the world [02:25] There are approximately 50, 000 steps at the lab [02:28] it begins with bags of pure mRNA the molecule that tells cells how to make the proteins that [02:33] launch the immune response and a buffer solution that starts the coding process [02:39] it emerges in bulk at the other end of the process as a liquid destined for vials [02:46] most of the machines are named after the engineers that developed the process [02:50] this one is named after Margaret the first patient in the clinical trials to receive the vaccine [02:56] but the beating heart of the lab is this machine a container that uses pressurized ethanol to encase [03:01] the mRNA and special lipid nanoparticles [03:05] those nanoparticles keep the mRNA protected until it [03:08] can jumpstart the immune response in the body's cells [03:38] Speed is essential but inside the lab everyone moves slowly and methodically [03:45] each of the 50,000 steps is logged by one technician confirmed by a second and only then does it actually happen [03:53] it's very important that the quality of the product and all the raw materials is perfect [04:00] here and so no impurities should be present in all raw materials and nothing which we don't [04:06] want to have in our products [04:08] one wrong move has the potential to damage the final product [04:12] if there's any accidental exposure let's say from an ill-timed sneeze [04:17] the entire batch must be thrown out, all eight million doses that's why everyone wears layers [04:23] of protection and they even disinfect their gloved hands repeatedly [04:45] in the lab where we were filming no one had ever told the technicians how many doses were in a batch [04:56] after that they sprayed another application of disinfectant onto their gloves just to be sure [05:13] based on our technology and on the antigen we were using no I wasn't [05:19] I'm very confident in the technology we have [05:22] until now vaccine development has been a slow process [05:26] the BioNtech vaccine uses a new technology based on mRNA it is revolutionizing the way [05:32] vaccines can be produced [06:03] When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, BioNtech was primarily a cancer vaccine company [06:08] but by using this new mRNA technology it was able [06:11] to quickly pivot to a coronavirus vaccine [06:15] when you look back at any project you've ever done you've [06:17] always looked back at the start and go wow okay if I'd known that now i could have cut you know a few [06:24] hurdles out of my way earlier right but you're in a situation where you're doing something [06:29] especially for us as a smaller company that was unprecedented [06:32] the second part of the process happens at another factory [06:35] where vials are filled and packed into boxes for shipment [06:38] as the cycle comes to an end there's little time to celebrate after all another batch is waiting to be made ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6049966/pfizer-biontech-vacccine-refrigeration-storage-time/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6049966/pfizer-biontech-vacccine-refrigeration-storage-time/"},"headline":"FDA Extends Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Refrigeration Storage Time to 30 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