EU regulators can increase doses from virus vaccine vials | Area

Brussels (AP) —European Union drug company tells doctors on Friday to give doctors one more dose from each vial of coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, along with an additional purchase of 300 million shots of serum. approved. Accelerate the pace of vaccination in blocks in 27 countries.

The European Medicines Agency has updated the product information for the vaccine by the Human Medicines Agency and advised each vial on December 21 when the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was first approved 6 times instead of 5 times. Said that it was recommended to clarify that it is included.

Hanno Kautz, a spokesman for the German Ministry of Health, told reporters in Berlin that the change would take effect soon and would increase the available dose of the vaccine by 20%.

Many doctors throughout the EU have already vaccinated each vial for 6 doses. This is a method already permitted in the United States, United Kingdom and other regions.

Pharmaceutical companies regularly put more vaccine in vials than they need to ensure a minimal dose in the event of a spill.

The news came shortly after the EU executives announced that they had secured 300 million additional doses of the Pfizer-Bio N-Tech vaccine. European Commission Chairman Ursula von der Leyen said the new agreement to buy more doses would double the amount ordered by Brock in 27 countries.

The EU Commission later detailed in a statement that it proposed to Member States to purchase an additional 200 million doses and another 100 million doses.

“This will allow the EU to purchase the vaccine, which is already in use throughout the EU, up to 600 million times. Additional doses will be available from the second quarter of 2021,” the EU said. I will. Von de Araien said 75 million additional doses were possible in the second quarter and the rest would be available throughout 2021.

Combined with the vaccine contract with Moderna, the EU now has the capacity to vaccinate more than 80% of the population to 380 million people, Fonde Araien said.

The EU has signed six vaccine agreements with Moderna, AstraZeneca-Oxford, Sanofi-GSK, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Pfizer-BioNTech and CureVac with up to 2 billion doses. However, so far, only Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been approved for use in the block.

EMA Secretary-General Emer Cooke said in an online public meeting to discuss the work of pharmaceutical companies to review vaccines, the process of evaluating a third vaccine produced by AstraZeneca could be completed by the end of January. I did.

“Of course, this depends on the data we receive and the progress of the evaluation. When we actually receive the application, we will publish it,” she said.

Also on Friday, the United Kingdom approved a vaccine developed by the third Moderna, which has been approved for domestic use.

The UK Department of Health said the vaccine meets the “strict standards of safety, efficacy and quality” of UK regulators.

The UK has ordered 10 million doses of vaccine, but there are no plans to deliver the vaccine until spring. So far, the UK has given 1.5 million people the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines.

The Commission’s announcement was made amid growing criticism of the Commission’s decision to handle vaccine purchases in all EU member states, especially in Germany. The EU vaccination program is off to a slow start, with some EU member states immediately accusing the European Commission of not being able to provide the right number of doses.

The EU defends that strategy, claiming that the vaccination program has just begun and that mass deliveries are expected around April.

“We faced huge demand, but our production capacity hasn’t caught up yet. Now we have taken a positive step,” said Fonde Araien.

After Germany secured an additional dose from the German company BioNTech outside the EU agreement, Von der Leyen revealed that individual negotiations violated the agreement accepted by all block members.

“We all agree that there are no parallel negotiations or contracts and are legally binding. Therefore, the framework we are all working on is 27. We negotiate together. , Procured together and working together on this vaccination process. “

However, Mr. Kautz said the deal with BioNTech is “compatible with the EU agreement.” The additional allocations we reserve will not disrupt other contracts. “

“That’s a prerequisite for our memorandum of understanding,” Kautz told reporters in Berlin. “Delivery is also unaffected by this. Other EU member states later BioNTech, for example, simply because Germany secured an additional dose of the vaccine or secured an additional dose of the vaccine. We do not get vaccines from. “

Mr. Kautz has revealed that he will be offered a bilaterally secured 30 million doses after being ordered via the EU, but this year is still expected.

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The coder was reported by The Hague, the Netherlands. Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans contributed from Berlin.

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