The EU is asked to approve the extra dose of Pfizer vaccine bottles

PRAGUE / ROME (Reuters) – The European Union was asked on Tuesday to allow an extra dose of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to be removed from each vial, a practice allowed elsewhere that would cause supplies scarce would go further.

Experts say it is possible to obtain six doses of each bottle, more than the five approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said he raised the issue with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen with the aim of obtaining authorization from the EMA for the extra shot as soon as possible.

The vaccine, made by Pfizer in the United States and the German biotech startup BioNTech, is the only one to have EU approval so far and is already being administered.

But supplies are in short supply and rising coronavirus infections are pushing hospitals to the limit.

BioNTech said that each bottle was guaranteed five doses, but it was possible, with the right needle and syringe, to extract a sixth.

“We are discussing with regulatory authorities whether and how the sixth dose, as well as the needles or syringes needed for a low dead volume system, can be made available,” said a BioNTech spokesman.

Italian regulators have already approved the six-dose draw, reversing the EMA’s guidance for the EU as a whole.

Similar approvals have been issued by regulators in the United States, Britain, Switzerland and Israel – who started their vaccination campaigns earlier.

Soren Brostrom, head of the Danish Health Authority, said it was even possible to take a seventh dose of some bottles from Pfizer and that it would be feasible to vaccinate more than 250,000 people expected in the first two months of the Danish campaign.

The EU has signed agreements to purchase a total of 2 billion doses of vaccines, which will be distributed to member states in proportion to their populations. EMA did not respond to a request for comment.