Coronavirus: Pfizer and the “scandal of the sixth two …

The American laboratory Pfizer, which developed with the German BioNTech one of the first two vaccines against coronavirus, raised concerns in Europe after reporting that reduce your deliveries by 20% after detecting a supposed increase in the number of doses available per vial (vial-ampoule) from five to six. The decision was made on the basis that the contracts signed with the European States are technically per dose and not per vial.

So far, five vaccines per ampoule have been counted, although some communities and countries in Europe have realized that there is a way to scale the doses per vial up to six, using the corresponding tools. Pfizer became aware of this problem as well, so they decided to change the calculation that had been previously stipulated and reduce shipments to these locations, assuming everyone was using six doses when it should be five.

The problem is that getting all the doses of vaccine out of each vial requires a special type of syringe and some expertise from the person administering it. Because of this, in some parts of the continent they are not able to extract all the doses present in shipments from Pfizer, which has now announced that it will be cutting back on shipments.

The pharmaceutical company has updated the technical sheet for its vaccine against covid-19 to specify that to obtain a sixth dose from its vials, it is necessary to use syringes “which do not leave a significant dead volume”, instead of those considered “standard”, which reduce this possibility.

For this reason, they pointed out that “If you are using standard syringes and needles, the volume may not be sufficient to withdraw a sixth dose from a single vial.” This situation has caused a state of alert in some European countries.

French newspaper Liberation echoed the news with a cover devoted to the “sixth dose scandal”. “The European states have just lived a bitter experience, victims of a sleight of hand by Pfizer-BioNTech laboratories, which have found a way to reduce by 20% the deliveries of their vaccine vials to EU member states , with the argument of a sixth dose can be obtained, ”they indicate in the news.

There, the interest of the laboratory behind the famous sixth dose that it is possible to obtain from the vials that Pfizer sends of its vaccine was denounced and which will no longer be a “gift” since the European Medicines Agency has given it. allowed to modify its prospectus.

The truth is that at the beginning, the American company assured that each vial sent would arrive with five doses. However, it was later discovered that up to a sixth dose could be obtained with certain procedures.

The new provision was accepted by the European Medicines Agency on January 8, but as the pharmacist understands that this cannot be a freebie and that the contract with Europe is about doses and not vials, he decided to provide fewer vials to each country and Whoever has the opportunity can purchase the sixth dose that constitutes each vial sent.

The news has a negative impact on countries that do not have the special syringe to obtain this sixth dose, for which a channel of dialogue will be opened between governments and the company.