Reports circulated Wednesday that extra doses contained in the vials of Pfizer Inc’s (NYSE:PFE) COVID-19 vaccine do not need to be discarded, according to the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Labeling confusion had led to hospital pharmacists discarding one in every six doses of the vaccine made jointly by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) Stat News had reported earlier.
The vaccine vials reportedly hold five doses as per the label but pharmacists found that they could potentially administer six or even seven doses. Without the manufacturer’s approval, these doses had to be thrown away.
FDA said in a statement that "given the public health emergency, FDA is advising that it is acceptable to use every full dose obtainable," till the time the issue was resolved.
"However, since the vials are preservative free, it is critical to note that any further remaining product that does not constitute a full dose should not be pooled from multiple vials to create one," FDA noted.
Squeezing the extra doses out of the vials could increase the U.S. supply of the Pfizer COVID-19 by as much as 40%.
The first tranche of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine constitutes 2.9 million doses. An additional two million doses of the vaccine are up for allocation next week disclosed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, NBC reported that a middle-aged health worker in Alaska had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine which required overnight hospitalization.
PFE shares began Thursday down 24 cents to $37.60
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