Controversy rises over maximizing COVID-19 vaccine doses per vial

A medical staffer draws out a dose of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine with a syringe from a bottle at a vaccination center at the National Medical Center in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

By Lee Hyo-jin

Controversy is rising over maximizing COVID-19 vaccine doses per bottle by using domestically developed syringes.

A low dead space (LDS) syringe, developed by a local company, minimizes the dead space between hub and needle, thereby increasing the number of doses that can be drawn from each vial.

The syringe will be able to increase the number of Pfizer's vaccine shots per vial to seven from six. A bottle of AstraZeneca's shots, which provides shots for 10 people, can be administered to up to 12 recipients using the syringe.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has allowed their use at vaccination sites by issuing a guideline to the vaccine centers nationwide, Saturday.

But it adopted an ambiguous stance later stating that no official review has been conducted of the syringes' usage.

“It is difficult to make a one-size-fits-all decision on whether to use one Pfizer bottle for seven doses as it depends on the proficiency of medical workers administering the vaccine,” Jeong Gyeong-sil, a KDCA official, said at a briefing, Saturday.

Maximizing the number of doses from each vial will speed up the nationwide vaccination program as it minimizes wasted fluid. However, there are concerns that drawing up such measures to simply increase the number of recipients may result in ineffective immunization.

“The usage and dosage amount is fixed for every medication. It is worrisome that the authorities are changing the guidelines on vaccine doses without thoroughly reviewing the efficacy,” said Kim Woo-joo, an infectious disease professor at Korea University Guro Hospital in Seoul.