I bought some vacuum-packed cheese in a mountain hut in Austria yesterday. They told me it shouldn't be stored in the fridge until it's been opened, and that it'll survive weeks or months at room temperature until then.
Is this really true?
It's naturally a hard-ish cheese (Bergkäse), but is very soft in the current warm weather, and there is a thin layer of liquid surrounding the cheese in its vacuum packaging.
This is about risk assessment. If these were made with pasteurized milk, and are fully sealed, and only briefly warm (not Austrian mountain temps, but the warm temps where you are now), the risk is low. The risk grows with unpasteurized milk and warm temps. Pathogens of concern are listeria, E. coli, and salmonella...not guaranteed to be there, but a possibility.
I would certainly keep these in the refrigerator.