Pfizer said on Friday that it will send fewer vials of vaccine against the CCP virus after finding an extra dose in each vial.
“We will deliver on our supply commitments under our existing agreements – which are based on delivering doses, not bottles – and we are confident in our ability to deliver 200 million doses of our vaccine to the U.S. government by July 31,” a Pfizer spokesman told the media.
“In a situation of limited vaccine supply in the midst of a public health crisis, our intention with this change of label is to provide clarity to healthcare professionals, to minimize vaccine waste and to allow for more efficient use of the vaccine.”
Each vial contains a number of doses. When vaccine administration began late last year, health professionals were told that each bottle contained five doses. They are now being told that each bottle contains six doses, according to documents from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), although the labels on the bottles may state that only five doses are in one bottle.
Marion Gruber, director of the Office of Vaccines Research and Review, said in a letter to Pfizer earlier this month that the FDA agreed with Pfizer “that there are six 0.3 ml doses in a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine bottle. “.
“Therefore, we also agree with the updates related to the information leaflet for healthcare professionals administering vaccines (vaccination providers) that clarify that, after dilution, one bottle of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine contains six doses of 0.3 mL” said Gruber.
Pfizer is required to ship 200 million doses to the United States by July 31, under agreements signed during the Trump administration.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), meanwhile, said on Friday that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are not interchangeable.
The messenger RNA vaccines are the only two authorized for use in the United States against COVID-19, a disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
Patients receive two injections at intervals of several weeks.
“The safety and effectiveness of a series of mixed products has not been evaluated. Both doses of the series must be completed with the same product ”, stated the CDC in updated guidelines.
“In exceptional situations where the first dose vaccine product cannot be determined or is no longer available, any available COVID-19 mRNA vaccine can be administered within a minimum of 28 days between doses to complete the vaccination series. of COVID-19 mRNA, ”he added.