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 Her air-bubble trick makes it possible to extract an elusive seventh
dose from vials of the vaccine from Pfizer - one more than the six
approved by Europe's health regulator that can normally only be
drawn with a special needle and syringe.
Such "low-dead-space" shot utensils are in short supply, making Roos'
trick all the more valuable as countries seek to protect people
against new, more infectious coronavirus strains that are spreading
a third wave of infection.
Roos' technique, similar to one used in Denmark, begins by drawing
some vaccine liquid and then pushing it back into the bottle to get
rid of air in the syringe. She then draws the exact dose and
completes it with sterile air from the bottle.
The dose is then injected with minimal waste.
"The purpose of the air is to push all the liquid into the patient
from the needle and close the injection channel so it won't bleed,"
Roos told Reuters at Helsinki's Laakso hospital where she works as a
training nurse.
Her success has drawn the attention of colleagues at home and abroad
who are keen to get more shots from each vial.
SAVING LIVES
Tuija Kumpulainen, head of the health and safety unit at the Finnish
Health Ministry, says drawing extra doses is safe when performed
with precision.
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 While
the technique is not easy and doesn't work every time, it also makes
it possible to draw 12 doses from the 10-dose vials from AstraZeneca
and Moderna - the other two shots approved for use in the European
Union.
"The number of extra doses is significant," says Jutta Peltoniemi,
an infectious diseases doctor in the city of Turku in southwest
Finland.
"Imagine that you were among the extra people we vaccinated today in
Helsinki who, without this technique, would have had to wait? These
extra doses do save lives," Roos says.
(This story corrects to identify speaker in final paragraph)
(Reporting by Essi Lehto, Editing by Douglas Busvine and Gareth
Jones)
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