Some European countries are struggling to make the most of the vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Officials in France, Germany and Switzerland say they're finding it hard to get the approved six shots out of each vial.

And the losses soon add up.

200,000 vials of the two-shot vaccine should inoculate 600,000 people.

But at only five shots per vial that number drops to 500,000.

The difficulties could also make it harder for Pfizer and BioNTech to hit a production target of 2 billion doses this year.

That target is based on six shots per vial.

In Switzerland some officials described the vaccine as thick and hard to handle.

In France one expert says there's a shortage of special syringes needed to get the most out of each vial.

One German state said they could get the sixth dose only around half the time.

Adding to the frustration, some countries are doing much better.

The UK says waste per vial is lower than expected.

In Denmark they're even getting seven doses out of each one.

And the Netherlands has upped its vaccination target, after some hospitals there also managed a seventh shot.