OREANDA-NEWS. Pfizer is temporarily cutting its coronavirus vaccine shipments to Norway and the rest of Europe from next week, the Norwegian Public Health Institute said.

It is noted that for Norway this means a shortage of 7.8 thousand doses in the third week of the year. The decline in supplies is associated with the modernization of production facilities, the institute explained.

"The institute has already created a contingency supply of vaccine and will continue to use it. It is unclear how long it will take for Pfizer to return to peak performance," the institute said.

Earlier, the Russian virologist, Doctor of Medical Sciences Nikolai Malyshev explained on the air of NSN the prohibition of Roszdravnadzor to use the Pfizer vaccine unregistered in Russia. "Imagine, we would bring it in our pockets somewhere abroad and start doing it. How would you react to this? Each state has its own rules," the specialist said.

He recalled that the Pfizer vaccine requires special storage conditions. Earlier it was reported that the drug is frozen after production and should be stored at a temperature not exceeding -70 degrees. Once delivered to the vaccination center, it must be thawed and used within five days, otherwise it will deteriorate. To form an immune response, a second injection is required a month later, so the entire process of transporting the drug will have to be repeated. According to the expert, it is very difficult to organize the delivery of the drug to Pfizer.