After receiving a letter signed by nursing staff from the Herrera Health Region, where they expressed their concern about the expiration date of two batches of vaccines, against Covid-19, the Ministry of Health (Minsa), clarified to citizens that at no time and “under no circumstances” have expired vaccines been used.
The Minister of Health in charge, Ivette Berrios, assured that they would not risk, with this bad practice, “the impeccable work” that they have done from the beginning, since all the parameters regarding the vaccine itself and its storage have been followed. set by the FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) and the EMA (European Medicines Agency).
He stressed that the vaccination process at the national level has been a success thanks to the efficiency and responsibility of the government in containing the pandemic.
“We have complied with all the guidelines required by this type of medication, at no time have we used expired vaccines in any area of the country,” he pointed out, recalling that despite the expiration date of the batch of vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer/ BioNTech is March 31, international regulations allow three additional months for its use and that Panama began to use a batch of new vaccines as of April 1.
The Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs also made a statement in this regard, explaining that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is stable for nine (9) months and not six (6) months as initially indicated, reiterating the minister’s statements.
Therefore, said Directorate issued an update of the Emergency Use Authorization (AUE) where it indicated the new useful life of the vaccine in question and it is up to the manufacturer to make the appropriate corrections.
With information from Nancy Pretto
