Pfizer will deliver fewer vials of COVID-19 vaccine to the United States after it was discovered that each vial actually contained an unplanned additional dose, according to the pharmaceutical company.
Pharmacists discovered in December that they could extract an additional dose, one-sixth from each ampoule of Pfizer vaccine; on January 6, the Food and Drug Administration accepted Pfizer’s request to update the vaccine fact sheet to clarify that there is a sixth dose in vials.
The change means Pfizer will be able to send fewer vials to meet its commitment to deliver 200 million doses to the United States by the end of July.
“We will meet our supply commitments under our existing agreements – which are dose-based, not vial-based – and we are confident in our ability to deliver 200 million doses of vaccine to the US government by July 31.” a Pfizer spokesman said in a statement to The Post.
“In a situation of limited vaccine supply in the midst of a public health crisis, our intention with this label change is to provide clarity to healthcare providers, minimize vaccine waste, and enable the most effective use of the vaccine. vaccine, “the spokesman added.