Explains how more than 5 people can be vaccinated with one vaccine bottle

The Ministry of Health announces that from now on the vaccines will be delivered to Lithuania every week for the three months and in batches of at least 20 thousand doses. And next week it is planned to vaccinate residents of nursing homes and nursing homes.

The third batch of coronavirus vaccine arrived in Lithuania. A total of 20,475 doses were administered. The new vaccine will soon reach major hospitals in the country and will only be used to vaccinate hospital personnel. From now on, the BioNtech and Pfizer vaccines will be shipped to Lithuania every week for three months.

Thus, according to preliminary estimates, Lithuania will receive about 300,000 doses of the vaccine in three months. By the end of March, the vaccine will be administered to no more than 150,000 people.

Not only that, it remains to be seen if more than 5 people can be vaccinated with one vial of vaccine. The Lithuanian Medicines Control Agency assures that not only 6, but even 7 people could be vaccinated after diluting the vaccine.

“Liability issues also arise, as this would already be a use that is not in accordance with the summary of product characteristics. There is a question of who will take responsibility, who should decide that. These items were evaluated and presented to the Ministry of Health for adoption. That theoretical possibility of allowing a dose of 6 or 7 is “, says Gytis Andrulionis, head of the State Drug Control Service.

It is true that the decision to vaccinate more than 5 people is not the responsibility of the manufacturer of the drug, but of the country itself. So far, Lithuania is vaccinating 5 people with one vial of diluted vaccine, while in Denmark up to 7 doctors are vaccinated with the same vial.

“Actually, there are six doses in the vial. Some countries have started making six vaccines. However, Pfizer’s requirements are to have 5 vaccines and so far the ministry does not allow it. This issue is also being considered in the Ministry, if we allow it, we would do it ”, says Vinsas Janušonis, director of the Klaipėda University Hospital.

The Ministry of Health is consulting with experts and still uses the vaccine conservatively. The ministry ordered hospitals not to use excess vaccine and to follow the manufacturer’s rules for BioNtec and Pfizer.

“It is not yet officially approved that six doses can be used instead of five. As far as we know, the manufacturer has asked the European authorities for the approval of that possibility. Loreta Ašoklienė, Lithuanian chief epidemiologist.

At present, Lithuania has a total of approximately 30 thousand doses of BioNtech and Pfizer vaccines. According to the Ministry of Health, it is planned to vaccinate all hospitals: their employees, ambulances. And next week, a vaccine will be delivered to Lithuania to vaccinate employees of care and nursing institutions. It is true that they will be tested for antibodies.

And former health minister Aurelijus Veryga is now being criticized for getting vaccinated too slowly.

“Why was the second shipment a week practically in the refrigerator warehouse? Because many doctors could have been vaccinated during that week. And in this case, speed is very important, because doctors not only get infected and get sick, but they also have to isolate themselves, which alters the processes, ”said Seimas Aurelijus Veryga member.

However, there is an increasing incidence of coronavirus infections in physicians with a history of COVID-19. The Ministry of Health ensures that people with coronavirus can be vaccinated on a non-priority basis. Meanwhile, Lithuanian Sigismund, who practices at Peter’s Hospital in Wuppertal, Germany, says that many COVID-19 colleagues became ill for the second time only a month or two after the first infection.

“There have been cases where you have been infected with the coronavirus for a slightly longer period, not three weeks, but a few months after the first infection. Already here, local doctors are no longer surprised in such cases,” he says the apprentice Žygimantas Petkelis.

Klaipeda University Hospital has yet to promise to be vaccinated for patients with medical illnesses.

“Those who have gotten sick are not vaccinated because they have a natural immunity,” says Janušonis.

Representatives of the ministry do not reveal what specific vaccination plan awaits Lithuania and how it will work. And the procedures must be really strict, because the vaccine is the most desirable product.

Here in neighboring Poland, vaccination against Covid-19 is accompanied by scandals. Because here the country’s elite began to vaccinate without queuing. Polsat Television reported that the Warsaw University Hospital had used 450 doses of vaccine in a non-transparent manner. Along with medical staff and patients at risk, former Prime Minister Leszek Miller, 74, and Poland Theater director Krystina Janda, 68, were vaccinated consecutively. And the latter took not only some of his famous stage actors to the hospital to be vaccinated, but also his ex-wife and daughter.