It’s being widely reported that the doses shipped in mid-Dec are set to expire in 30 days. My understanding is that’s true for Pfizer vaccines (but not Moderna) & it’s true only if the doses haven’t been delivered to a site w/ ultra-cold freezers.

But other reporting seems to indicate most/many states designated hospitals w/ ultra-cold freezers to receive initial Pfizer doses (called the “Pfizer 5” in some reports). CVS/Walgreens program also seems to have included plans for ultra-cold storage.

We need to be moving faster to vaccinate high-priority groups. We need to be doing the work to get scarce doses to high-needs populations in harder-to-reach places (eg health workers who aren’t connected to major hospital systems, LTC residents & staff).

In some cases, hospital systems will thaw more Pfizer doses than they can use for high-priority groups. They should have plans in place to offer vax to others w/in the 5 day-window for thawed doses when that happens. They should also be planning to avoid over-thawing.