The BioNTech/Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine no longer needs to be kept at ultra-low temperatures colder than the Antarctic winter, according to new results that will allow distribution to be dramatically expanded to doctors’ clinics, pharmacies and more remote regions.

Stability data, which the companies have submitted to the US regulator, show the shot can be kept at normal medical freezer temperatures of minus 15C to minus 25C for up to two weeks, compared with the previous required storage conditions of between minus 60C and minus 80C. 

Ugur Sahin, BioNTech’s chief executive, said the ability to store the vaccine at higher temperatures would give vaccination centres “greater flexibility”, adding that the company continues to develop new formulations to make the jab “even easier to transport and use”.