Pfizer to ship fewer COVID vaccine vials to US after additional doses are discovered

Pfizer will ship fewer vials of COVID-19 vaccine to the United States after finding each vial actually contained an unexpected extra dose, according to the drug company.

Pharmacists discovered in December that they could extract an additional sixth dose from each vial of Pfizer vaccine; On January 6, the Food and Drug Administration granted Pfizer’s request to update the vaccine information sheet to clearly state that there is a sixth dose in the 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 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 spokeswoman for Pfizer 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 clarify matters for health care providers, minimize vaccine wastage and enable the ‘most effective use of the vaccine,’ the spokesperson added.