[HN Gopher] Pfizer seeks to store vaccine at higher temperatures...
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       Pfizer seeks to store vaccine at higher temperatures, easing
       logistics
        
       Author : based2
       Score  : 19 points
       Date   : 2021-02-20 20:07 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.reuters.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.reuters.com)
        
       | tialaramex wrote:
       | The first mention of this I saw was in a New Zealand press
       | conference, where the reporter asked about Pfizer maybe being
       | stored at new _lower_ temperatures, and for me it underscored
       | that we should teach people absolute temperature (ie Kelvin,
       | there is an absolute version of the Fahrenheit scale but you 've
       | got no reason to adopt that). If you see the storage temperature
       | rules change from 210K to 255K it's immediately obvious this is a
       | _higher_ temperature, whereas some people will think -20degC is
       | lower than -65degC
       | 
       | The professional they were asking questions of was careful to
       | correct them by saying it's "warmer" rather than just snapping
       | that it's actually "higher" temperature - because this way
       | sidesteps the confusion, but it'd be easier to just not have that
       | problem at all.
        
         | ed25519FUUU wrote:
         | It's a good point. I think most people think "warmer" if they
         | hear "higher temperatures"
        
         | nom wrote:
         | Is the concept of negative numbers really a problem for people
         | to grasp? If yes, then we should teach that instead of using
         | Kelvin to make it easier for them to know which number is
         | bigger.
        
           | mjevans wrote:
           | I wouldn't be surprised if many people do have trouble with
           | communicating negative temperatures. Many people have trouble
           | with timezones and clearly communicating generally.
        
           | redis_mlc wrote:
           | FYI: You shouldn't assume any level of knowledge of people
           | under 30 these days.
           | 
           | Back in the day, people read newspapers and had solid school
           | grading. Today it's just reading consumer social media.
           | 
           | For HN readers, that means when you're at work, don't assume
           | the people sitting around you are on the same wavelength as
           | you in any objective sense.
        
         | bumbada wrote:
         | >whereas some people will think -20degC is lower than -65degC
         | 
         | I believe this can happen in the US, but hardly in any place
         | where people are used to Celsius.
         | 
         | I have experienced -30C in Germany and Norway, and -40C in
         | Russia. Even in the mountain in Spain you can get -20C. People
         | have -18C in the freezer.
         | 
         | It is obvious for people what 0C is: water freezes, and that is
         | something that everybody experiences today just using a
         | refrigerator.
         | 
         | But most people are not used to what K means. Only for
         | scientists and maybe engineers is obvious, but you need a lot
         | of things to know before it is easy to understand.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | hef19898 wrote:
       | I bet Biontech / Pfizer will find ways to store and handle it
       | under conditions suitable for general doctors as soon as
       | Johnson's and other less temp sensitive vaccines are available.
       | And doctors are actively vaccinating.
        
         | addicted wrote:
         | This makes no sense. Their competition from week 2 at least,
         | Moderna and Oxford, were already capable of transport and
         | storage at regular freezer temps.
         | 
         | Johnson and Johnson doesn't add easier temps to the mix. It
         | adds the fact that it's a single dose vaccine to the
         | environment.
         | 
         | If you did think it was competitive pressure that was driving
         | it then you should be suspicious about the Israeli studies that
         | show that a single dose of thrnPfizer vaccine is 85% effective
         | upto 4 months later.
        
           | hef19898 wrote:
           | Depends where you are. In Europe, we have Biontech and AZ.
           | Thanks to aggressive PR and media campaigns, nobody wants AZ
           | in Germany.
           | 
           | Even the surplus AZ doses are just sitting in storage,
           | official centers don't use them if you are not eligible yet.
           | Even if that means less people are getting shots. As soon as
           | doctors are jumping in, that will change. We also have, quite
           | likely, an incredible amount or surplus doses come Q2, early
           | Q3.
        
         | bumbada wrote:
         | The reason Biontech did not do that earlier was because the
         | tests to analyze the effect of temperature take months to do, 2
         | to 3 months.
         | 
         | So they started vaccinating people without delaying it 3 months
         | because it was an emergency. But after 3 months of testing we
         | will be able to know how temperature storage affects the
         | vaccine.
        
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       (page generated 2021-02-20 23:02 UTC)