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HEALTH-VIRUS-VACCINE-MODERNA
Moderna wants to pack 50pc more Covid vaccine per vial
WASHINGTON, Feb 13, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – US biotech firm Moderna said Friday it
was seeking clearance with regulators around the world to put 50 percent more
coronavirus vaccine into each of its vials as a way to quickly boost current
supply levels.
The company issued a statement after The New York Times first reported the
US Food and Drug Administration had already cleared it to increase levels by
40 percent.
“In order to better maximize resources as well as maximize opportunities
to deliver more doses into each market faster, Moderna has proposed filling
vials with up to 15 doses of vaccine versus the previous 10 doses,” a
spokesperson said in a statement to AFP.
The spokesperson added the company was engaging in discussions with the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and authorities in other countries, and
the increased level of doses wouldn’t require different vials to those
currently in use.
“Any resulting change would be subject to final approval from the various
regulatory authorities. Implementation of any such changes would be expected
to be completed in approximately a two- to three-month period,” it said.
Citing sources close to the matter, the Times reported that the FDA had
agreed to Moderna using 14 doses per vial, compared to the previous 10.
This would require retooling of production lines that would take less than
ten weeks, or before the end of April, the newspaper said.
“It would be a great step forward,” Moncef Slaoui, who was the chief
scientific advisor for the federal vaccine development program under former
president Donald Trump, told the Times.
“I think it will have an impact in the short term.”
Some ten percent of Americans have so far received at least one Covid
vaccine dose, with Moderna accounting for just under half the number and
Pfizer just over half.
The Biden administration announced Thursday it had reached a deal with
both these companies to supply a total of 600 million doses of their two-shot
courses by the end of July, enough to cover 90 percent of the US population.
BSS/AFP/SSS/0833 hrs