Originally, each vial of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine was designed to contain five doses, but some pharmacists have reported that they could withdraw six doses if they used certain syringes.
As a result, the FDA has approved an updated label that reads: “Low-dose syringes and / or needles can be used to extract six doses from a single vial. If standard syringes and needles are used, there may not be sufficient volume to extract a sixth dose from a single vial. ‘
Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said the increase in doses per vial offers an extra capacity of 20%. The New York Times first reported that Pfizer plans to base its vaccine commitment on doses instead of vials.
However, Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, said the ability to collect the sixth dose with these syringes did not exist everywhere.
“A lot of places have it,” Gupta told CNN’s John Berman, “but not every place.”
These changes underscore the pressure to get as many people vaccinated as possible amid an inconsistent supply chain.
As the vaccination progresses, the pandemic continues unabated. Johns Hopkins University on Friday reported more than 186,000 new cases and 3,655 new deaths. At least 414,004 people have died in the US due to Covid-19.
“This should not be the Hunger Games”
According to Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, a lack of information and a lack of financial support have struggled to cope with the slow introduction of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“I’m eligible to get a vaccine in Minnesota, too, and I can’t get one,” Osterholm, a former Coronavirus adviser to President Joe Biden, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Friday. “I want to share that frustration loud and clear.”
Utah Governor Spencer Cox told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that the state is well positioned for distribution, but that the allocation of vaccines nationwide is being bottled at private pharmacies.
“Long-term care facilities in Utah, they have way too much vaccine. We estimate that they have 15 to 16,000 extra doses that they do not need and that they cannot currently use. So, we take it back and we ‘it back to us local health departments and it will be gone next week, ‘Cox said.
The frustrations with the distribution of vaccines and concerns about the supply resounded throughout the country.
Governor John Bel Edwards said Friday that Louisiana does not have a mass vaccination site because it does not have enough vaccine to run a site.
The state of New York has administered 97% of its first doses of Covid-19 vaccine, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday and will run out soon.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told Wolf Blitzer of CNN that she receives daily calls from people who are “desperately looking for the vaccine,” adding, “I just do not see an abundance of vaccine.”
Utah’s Cox said competition between states early in the pandemic, when the federal government forced states to seek supplies such as personal protective equipment, should be avoided in the case of vaccines.
“It should not be the Hunger Games, as with PPE. It was ridiculous and we all had to play that game,” he said. “We are all in this together. Governors are in this together. We just need insight from the federal government and the manufacturers,” Cox said.
New administration, new realities
Biden’s coronavirus advisers hope that deficiencies can be avoided, said Dr. Vivek Murthy, who was nominated for the surgeon’s general, said on a webcast to mayors on Friday.
Talks with companies have given us ‘more confidence that there is more supply and that it will continue to increase over the next few months,’ Murthy added.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday he expects positive news about a single-dose coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson in the next few weeks.
“I do not want to come out in front of them, but I have to tell you that I would be surprised if the data were analyzed within two weeks and decisions made,” Fauci told MSNBC.
According to the CDC, at least 195 cases of the variant have been identified in 22 U.S. states.
“It has not become dominant,” Fauci said. “It can. That’s why you should keep an eye on it from January to February and look really nice. ‘
Fauci agrees with the health recommendations. “It’s the kind of thing that prevents congestion, regardless of … the kind of virus.”
CNN’s Maggie Fox, Madeline Holcombe, Lauren Mascarenhas, Raja Razek, Chuck Johnston, Hollie Silverman, Amanda Watts, Nick Neville, Andrea Diaz, Naomi Thomas, Michael Nedelman and Alta Spells contributed to this report.