GP-led vaccination sites can extend the shelf life of some batches of Moderna vaccine, NHS England has advised.
At letter sent to vaccination sites and GP practices said the post-thaw expiry dates for specific vaccine batches can be extended from 30 to 60 days as long as they are unpunctured and undamaged.
The extension, which was agreed by Moderna and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) only applies to vials produced within 20 batches listed within the letter.
‘Moderna has assessed available data and can confirm that their stability assessments indicate no impact to product quality through extending the post-thaw expiry period of thawed product from 30 days to 60 days, when stored at 2-8°C, independent of the shelf life printed on the vial,’ NHS England said.
The MHRA is reassured there is no detrimental impact on the safety, quality or efficacy of the specified batches of vaccine and has no objection to the proposal of using these stocks beyond their authorised expiry dates, the letter noted.
Clinicians responsible for storage and handling of the vaccines should amend the expiry dates for the batches listed to ‘enable more patients to access these critical and life-saving vaccines over the coming days’.
Stocks that are nearing expiry should be prioritised as per normal practice, it added.
It follows advice last month that the shelf life of certain batches of Pfizer vaccine could be extended from 31 to 45 days.
At the end of last year, the national protocol for the Pfizer vaccine was updated to extend the frozen vaccine’s shelf-life from six to nine months.
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