(Reuters) – Moderna Inc said Monday it is proposing to fill vials with additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to alleviate a manufacturing crisis as the company approaches production of nearly a million doses per day.
“The company proposes filling vials with additional doses of vaccine, up to 15 doses versus the current 10 doses,” Moderna said in an emailed statement.
“Moderna would need further discussions with the FDA to reassure the agency about this approach before implementing,” the company said, referring to the US Food and Drug Administration.
Moderna president Stephen Hoge said in the statement that the additional doses would help address capacity constraints, noting that “beyond the amount of drug available, is the number of vials you can fill in a given period of time.”
CNBC reported Friday that Moderna had asked the FDA for permission to fill its COVID-19 vaccine vials with up to five additional doses.
US distribution of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine began in December following FDA emergency approval, making it the second COVID-19 vaccine approved in the United States.
The FDA told Reuters in December that additional doses from vials of Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine could be used following reports of vaccine doses discarded by pharmacists due to labeling confusion.
Monday morning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had administered 32,222,402 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and distributed 49,936,450 doses.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler