Pfizer said Friday it will send fewer vials of CCP vaccine after finding an additional dose in each vial.
“We will meet our supply commitments in accordance with our existing agreements, which are based on dose delivery, not vials, and rely on our ability to deliver 200 million doses of our vaccine to the United States government. before July 31, “the Pfizer spokesman told the media.
“In a situation of limited vaccine supply amid a public health crisis, our intention with this label change is to provide clarity to health care providers, minimize vaccine waste, and enable more efficient use. of the vaccine “.
Each vial contains a certain number of doses. When vaccine administration began late last year, health personnel were informed that each vial contained five doses. They are now told that each vial contains six doses, according to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documents, although the labels on the vials may indicate that there are only five doses in one vial.
Marion Gruber, director of the administration’s Office of Vaccine Research and Review, said in a letter to Pfizer earlier this month that the FDA agreed with Pfizer “that there are six doses of 0.3 ml in a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 “vaccine vial.
“Accordingly, we also agree with the updates related to the information sheet for healthcare providers administering the vaccine (vaccination providers) that clarify that, after dilution, a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine vial -19 contains six doses of 0.3 ml, ”Gruber said. .
Pfizer is required to ship 200 million doses to the United States by July 31, according to agreements secured during the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are not interchangeable.
Messenger RNA vaccines are the only two authorized for use in the United States against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
Patients receive two separate shots several weeks.
“The safety and efficacy of a number of mixed products have not been evaluated. Both doses in the series should be supplemented with the same product, ”the CDC stated in an updated guide.
“In exceptional situations where the first-dose vaccine product cannot be determined or is no longer available, any available vaccine against COVID-19 mRNA may be administered at a minimum interval of 28 days between doses to complete the series of vaccinations. against COVID-19 mRNA, ”he added.