Your ability to quickly reference:
“the ongoing shortage of borosilicate glass vials necessary for vaccine distribution may be a factor in retaining available supplies.”
is pretty cool.
I had no idea there was such a shortage. I had no idea they reused vials. That is good information.
Your ability to quickly reference:
Amazing speed, with such info, isn’t it?
:-)
My understanding is that FDA doesn’t allow direct reuse, but that they can be melted down again to save the raw materials (which is one of the primary drivers of the shortage).
Other countries may allow direct reuse, but I don’t know what rules are in place in other countries. The shortage is due to a challenging production pipeline with difficult standards, not enough raw materials, and massive power requirements.
The world needs somewhere north of 13 billion doses of vaccine to cover everyone (some people will get a single-dose vaccine, but most will get a two-dose vaccine). A vial with Moderna’s vaccine has around 11 doses in it (depends on administration process, syringe type availability, etc.) That leaves over a billion vials needed that nobody knew we were going to need a year and a half ago. That’s a tough challenge to meet.