The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Moderna permission to increase the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses per vial from 10 to 14, the New York Times reports.
Moderna did not confirm the approval Friday but told Fox News it is currently in discussions with the FDA about a “potential increase in fill volumes, thus enabling extraction of additional doses from each vial delivered.”
One of the biggest constraints to Moderna’s manufacturing capacity is how many vials can be filled.
“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 Moderna spokesperson told Fox News Friday.
The FDA said Friday it cannot comment on discussions it is having with a manufacturer.
“Generally speaking, any changes to an [Emergency Use Authorization] must be requested by the company and include data supporting the requested change and would be authorized via a granting letter or reissuance of the letter of authorization, which would be posted on FDA’s web site,” an FDA spokesperson told Fox News.
Moderna currently provides roughly half of America’s vaccine supply. Because the increased number of doses per vial would not require different vials than the ones currently being used, it would be a simple way to increase the number of doses available. The manufacturing change would take two to three months to implement.
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