The EU is being asked to approve an additional dose of Pfizer vaccine vials

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

Experts say it is possible to get six doses from each vial, more than the five approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

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

The vaccine, manufactured by Pfizer of the United States and the German biotech startup BioNTech, is the only one that has obtained EU approval so far and is already being administered.

But supplies are dwindling and coronavirus infections on the rise are pushing hospitals to the limit.

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

“We are in talks with regulators about whether and how the sixth dose could be made available, as well as the needles or syringes needed for such a low-volume system,” a BioNTech spokesman said.

Italian regulators have already approved the drafting of six doses, which remove the EMA guidelines for the EU as a whole.

Regulators in the United States, Britain, Switzerland and Israel issued similar approvals, which began their vaccination campaigns earlier.

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

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