BRUSSELS (AP) – The European Union’s Medicines Agency on Friday approved doctors to withdraw another dose from each vial of coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech, in a step that – combined with the purchase of 300 million extra shots of serum – accelerates the rate of vaccinations in the bloc of 27 countries.
The European Medicines Agency has said that its Committee for Human Medicine recommends that the product information for the vaccine be updated to explain that each vial contains six doses instead of the five recommended when the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was originally given at 21 December lit up.
German health ministry spokesman Hanno Kautz told reporters in Berlin that the change would take effect immediately and increase the available doses of the vaccine by 20%.
Many doctors across the EU have already withdrawn six doses of the vaccine from each vial, a practice already permitted in the United States, Britain and elsewhere.
Pharmaceutical companies regularly pour more vaccine than necessary into the vials so that the minimum dose can be ensured even if it spills.
The news came shortly after the EU executive said it had secured 300 million extra doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said the new agreement to buy more doses would double the amount ordered by the 27-nation bloc.
The European Commission later stated in a statement that it had offered to member states to buy another 200 million doses of the vaccine, with the option of obtaining another 100 million doses.
‘It will enable the EU to procure up to 600 million doses of this vaccine, which is already in use across the EU. The additional doses will be delivered from the second quarter of 2021, ‘the EU said. According to Von der Leyen, 75 million of the extra doses will be available during the second quarter, while the rest will be delivered during 2021.
Combined with a contract with Moderna for the vaccine, the EU now has the capacity to vaccinate 380 million people, Von der Leyen said, more than 80% of the population.
The EU has signed six vaccine contracts for up to 2 billion doses with Moderna, AstraZeneca-Oxford, Sanofi-GSK, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Pfizer-BioNTech and CureVac. Only the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have so far been approved for use in the block.
At an online public meeting to discuss the Medicines Agency’s work on vaccine vaccination, Emer Cooke CEO Emer Cooke said the process of reviewing a third vaccine, made by AstraZeneca, may be completed by the end of January.
“It will, of course, depend on the data we receive and the progress of the evaluation,” she said. “Once we have received the application, we will make a public announcement on this.”
Britain also approved on Friday the vaccine developed by Moderna, the third to be licensed in the country.
The UK Department of Health said the vaccine met the “strict standards of safety, efficacy and quality” of UK regulators. ”
Britain has ordered 10 million doses of the vaccine, although it is not expected to be delivered there until spring. To date, Britain has vaccinated 1.5 million people with the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines.
The European Commission’s announcement comes amid growing criticism, especially in Germany, over the decision to buy the commission for all EU member states. Vaccination programs in the EU started slowly, and some EU members quickly blamed the European Commission for an alleged failure to deliver the right amount of doses.
The EU has defended its strategy, insisting that vaccination programs have just begun and that major deliveries are scheduled for around April.
‘We had a big demand, but the production capacity has not kept pace with it yet. Now we have a positive step forward, ‘von der Leyen said.
After Germany obtained extra doses of BioNTech, a German company, outside the EU agreements, von der Leyen made it clear that individual negotiations would violate the agreement accepted by all members of the bloc.
“We all agreed, legally binding, that there would be no parallel negotiations, no parallel contract,” she said. “The framework in which we all work is therefore a framework of 27. Together we negotiate, together we obtain and bring forward this vaccination process.”
But Kautz said the agreement with BioNTech “is compatible with the EU agreements. The extra awards we have received do not disrupt the other contracts.”
“This is a condition for the memoranda of understanding we have concluded,” Kautz told reporters in Berlin. “The delivery will also not be affected by this. No other EU Member State will later receive vaccines from BioNTech, simply because Germany has obtained additional doses of vaccine or is committed to additional doses of vaccine. ”
Kautz has made it clear that the bilaterally secured doses of 30 million will be delivered to those ordered via the EU, although it is still expected this year.
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Corder reported from The Hague, The Netherlands. Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans made a contribution from Berlin.
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