Prognosis
A Humble Syringe Could Help Speed U.S. Vaccination Effort
- Special syringes needed to get extra Pfizer doses from vials
- Big government push to vaccinate before new variants spread
Photographer: Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images
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In the race to get people immunized in the U.S., pharmacists made a key discovery -- that vials of Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine contain an extra dose. Extracting that extra bit of vaccine, however, hinges upon the availability of a specialized syringe that is in short supply.
When a medication or vaccine is injected, some amount of it can linger in the syringe in what’s known as the “dead space” between the plunger and needle. Low-dead space syringes are designed to minimize that, and with it, waste. That makes them a crucial tool in extracting six doses, instead of the five that were expected, from each Pfizer vial.