You probably heard this old joke:
“Mr. Smith, I have bad news: You have 2 months to live.”
“Gosh Doctor, don’t say that! I can’t afford to die so soon!”
“OK, I’ll give you 2 more months.”
The last I ever expected was to see it happening in real life.
Hundreds of thousands of COVID vaccine doses have been saved from the trash after U.S. regulators extended their expiration date for a second time, part of a nationwide effort to salvage expiring shots to battle the nation’s summer surge in infections.
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday sent a letter to shot maker Johnson & Johnson declaring that the doses remain safe and effective for at least six months when properly stored. The FDA’s move gives the shots an extra six weeks as public officials press more Americans to get inoculated.
States race to use COVID-19 vaccines before they expire (news10.com)
Not only the expiration date was extended but it was done so twice? Can a supermarket do that with milk? I don’t think so.
And yes, it probably means the FDA being extra cautious or more likely just went automatically with a random date much like Congress went with 10 round magazine capacity. Nothing base on actual science. And probably the vaccine is still good, but how do you know will counter those who will say “See? The Government wants to kill you with expired shit! This is the Tuskegee Syphilis Vaccination Experiment all over!”
In the past we had Pasteur, Salk, Fleming and many other true scientific geniuses doing hard work. Our times got Dr. Fauci, a quack selling us snake oil in the form of masks and lockdowns and with the backing of the Federal Government. And his ethics and scientific “expertise” [insert laugh here] is duplicated in the FDA and anything health related and under the supervision of DotGov.
That is scary and infuriating as hell.
When I was in school, we learned that meds don’t expire per se, but their efficacy decreases. So, the date is more of a “best by”.
you know that and I know that and probably many readers also know. But the truth and the internet do not readily shake hands.
I learned that also.
While I’m not a pharmacist or chemist, however, I do know that some things, as they break down, can transition from relatively innocuous to harmful. Teflon, for instance. So yes, the mRNA vaccine will lose efficacy as it ages and decomposes; I have to wonder a little bit about what exactly it decomposes into. I have to especially wonder that when we’re talking about genetic code.
But that’s all it is: just wondering.
Edit: And I see Nunya shared a similar thought as I was typing.
The shots aren’t meds, they are experimental RNA/DNA modifications.
Johnson and Johnson’s isn’t, it’s just a standard vaccine.
Then, there is doxycycline, Which degrades into nephrotoxic by products.
Or Tylenol, with similar breakdown dangers.
So, yeah, “best if used by…”, But, occasionally, “well past sell by date may be toxic”.
Makes me wonder which group these NEW! FABULOUS! Vaccines, fall into.
As well as what other bullshit, beyond the “expiration date”, we are being told.
The FDA can extend the expiration date, here’s how.
Working in pharmaceutical manufacturing under good manufacturing practices requires savings reserve and testing samples of every thing that goes out the door. Enough to last for years (Pfizer can afford to keep an entire warehouse at -80 C so long as sales keep up). A manufacturer can test a lot of medicine approaching expiration, and tell the FDA “lot xyz passed our analytical test for potency” and the FDA can extend the expiration date for that particular lot.
It all comes down to proper record keeping, rigorous testing, and maintaining the appropriate equipment. A company like Pfizer will pay top dollar to hire the best people in all these areas to avoid throwing out millions of dollars of medicines and avoiding billion dollar lawsuits.
(Proper record keeping)+(rigorous testing)+(Federal Government)=
=Error: Does Not Compute.
Bestowing an expiration date on a new product is a SWAG. And supermarkets routinely repackage and re-date meat products.