Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Norihisa Tamura expressed his approval of a method to increase the number of doses that can be administered from a single vial of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. from six doses per vial to seven.
The instructions for the vaccine say that a vial contains six doses, but Uji-Tokushukai Medical Center in Kyoto announced a method to deliver seven doses per vial.
Tamura, speaking at a press conference after a Cabinet meeting, made his comment on Tuesday in response to the announcement.
The hospital said that if they use a syringe of the type for giving insulin to diabetics, they can extract seven doses from a vial, thus reducing loss. However, it is necessary to check whether the vaccine reaches the muscle of the person being vaccinated as the needle of an insulin syringe is short -- only half the length of those commonly used for vaccinations.
Tamura approved this method, but added, "It's not going to be adapted nationwide."
Regarding extracting seven doses from a vial, regulatory reform minister Taro Kono also expressed his approval, saying at a press conference on the same day, "We'd like to see a lot of creativity and ingenuity."
Giving consideration to avoiding a shortage of syringes for diabetics who need insulin injections, Kono added, "If there is a surplus [of insulin syringes], we may consider procuring them."
It is said to be difficult to extract even six doses of Pfizer's vaccine per vial without a special syringe, and it has been noted that the number of people who are inoculated may decrease if there are many cases of administering just five vaccinations per vial.
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