Pfizer ships fewer vials of CCP virus vaccine to US after finding additional doses

Pfizer said on Friday it would ship fewer vials of the CCP virus vaccine after finding an extra dose in each vial.

“We will meet our supply commitments in accordance with our existing agreements – which are based on delivery of doses, not vials – and we are confident in our ability to deliver 200 million doses of our vaccine to the US government of here July 31, ”a spokesperson for Pfizer told media.

“In a situation of limited vaccine supply in the midst of a public health crisis, our intention with this label change is to clarify matters for healthcare providers, minimize vaccine wastage and enable ‘most effective use of the vaccine.’

Each vial contains a number of doses. When administration of the vaccine began late last year, health workers learned that each vial contained five doses. They are now told that each vial contains six doses, according to documents from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), although the labels on the vials may state that only five doses are in a 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 vial of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. “

“Accordingly, we also endorse related updates to the Fact Sheet for Vaccine-Administering Healthcare Providers (Vaccine Providers) which state that after dilution, one vial of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine contains six doses of 0.3 ml, ”said Gruber.

Pfizer is obligated to send 200 million doses to the United States by July 31, under agreements reached during the Trump administration.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), meanwhile, said Friday that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are not interchangeable.

Messenger RNA vaccines are the only two allowed in the United States against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Patients receive two injections spaced several weeks apart.

“The safety and efficacy of a series of combination products have not been evaluated. Both doses in the series must be supplemented with the same product, ”the CDC said in updated guidance.

“In exceptional situations where the first dose vaccine product cannot be determined or is no longer available, any available COVID-19 mRNA vaccine may be administered at a minimum interval of 28 days between doses to complete the series of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination, ”he added.