Sweden’s Health Agency has halted COVID-19 vaccine payments to Pfizer as they’re looking for clarification over the number of doses available in each vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter on 26th January, 2021.
Sweden is asking for transparency in the matter of number of doses it has been charged for as apparently Pfizer billed for six doses in each vial rather than the decided five doses, said the newspaper.
They continued to say that Sweden hopes that the EU Commission and Pfizer will reach an agreement on how many doses are there in each vial.
Chief Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told Dagens Nyheter, “Until then, we have told the company that we must wait with the invoices that are available until we get clarity on what applies.”
Pfizer Sweden declined to comment to the newspaper, Reuters on the issue but told Dagens Nyheter that it had billed for six doses per vial.
Ulrika Goossens, Head of Communications for Pfizer Sweden was quoted, “Since the approval of the sixth dose, we use that number. We have to go with the approved product summary.”
Europe’s medicines regulators allowed for an additional sixth dose to be extracted from the vials, earlier this month. This increased the number of present shots at a time when supplies are short.
To remove the sixth dose, low dead volume stringers or needles which only keep a low amount of solution after an injected are required.
Richard Bergstrom, Sweden’s vaccine coordinator said, “This is unacceptable. If a country has the ability to extract five doses, it has received fewer doses for the same price.”
A Swedish Health Agency spokeswoman said that she cannot immediately comment on the report. The agency manages invoices related to COVID-19 purchases by Sweden.
Sweden purchases more vaccines than it needs from the joint EU purchase programme, passing the extra to neighbouring Norway, which is not a member of the bloc.
