In an interview with Antena 1, Miguel Prudêncio, Professor of Microbiology at FMUL and Principal Investigator at the iMM, commented on the affinities between the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against Covid-19.

In terms of effectiveness, Miguel Prudêncio said that both vaccines show very similar results, explaining that the main difference lies in the conservation conditions, which are less demanding in the case of the Moderna vaccine. "The two vaccines can be considered equivalent and there is no established criterion that shows that one of the vaccines should preferably be used in one or another group of the population at the expense of the other".

“They are vaccines based on very similar technology, on messenger RNA, developed several years ago for other therapeutic purposes […]. They are vaccines of the same class and the difference between both pertains the form of conservation. While the Pfizer vaccine needs to be preserved at minus 70 degrees, and after it thaws it can only be kept in a normal refrigerator for 5 days, the Moderna vaccine can be stored at minus 20 degrees, which is the temperature of a normal freezer and after thawing, it can be kept cold for about a month”, he declared in an interview that you can listen to in full HERE.

The main advantage "is from a logistical and storage point of view", assures Miguel Prudêncio, stressing that the Moderna vaccine may prove to be advantageous in regions or countries that do not have the equipment that meets the conservation requirements required by the Pfizer vaccine.

In addition, Miguel Prudêncio explained that "it is not recommended", nor have scientific studies been carried out to date, taking a second dose different from the one that was initially administered.

With the arrival of Moderna's first batch of vaccines in Portugal, the National Vaccination Plan is reinforced with an additional 8,000 doses of this vaccine, with an estimated 11,000 doses expected to arrive by the end of January, according to the press.