MADISON, Wis.— As the mass vaccination rollout continues, there is new concern over maximizing doses and a potential syringe shortage. 

Fitchburg Family Pharmacy Dr. Thad Schumacher thinks about both issues as he readies another Pfizer vial. 

Instead of creating enough for the five DHS provided syringes, he digs into his pharmacist stockpile for a sixth differently designed syringe. 

"A lot of these things are not going to be found out until you have them practice out in the field," Dr. Schumacher said. "The key is to make the vaccine go as far as you can"

Dr. Schumacher says he made DHS aware that he was offering that sixth shot with his hybrid syringe effort last week. Phizer has publicly said it’s ok to use whatever can be safely extracted from the multi-dose vial, but that decision is left up to local and state agencies.

Meanwhile, leftovers remain inside the vials that instead of being used are tossed.

It's the reason Sharps Technology designed a unique, new syringe that can potentially offer the elusive seventh dose.  

The company's CEO, Dr. Soren Christiansen, is in talks with operation warp speed about using the syringe, set to come online in April. 

"It's the design of our syringe that enables you to get 10% more doses from the same bulk material," Dr. Christiansen says.  "I believe there will be a need for our syringe."

The former three-decade head of Merck Vaccines says every company that is manufacturing syringes is trying to manufacture as much as they possibly can because a global shortage could threaten the vaccine effort.

"Six billion people would like to get vaccinated, in two doses. That means you would add, you know 12 billion syringes, on top of the current global demand of 16. So that will put a huge pressure on on syringe manufacturers, no doubt ab that," Dr. Christiansen says. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Schumacher orders as many syringes as possible and hopes he won't run into any syringe-related problems.

"We try to stay ahead of it, so we haven't run into it yet. But that doesn't mean it's not gonna occur," Dr. Schumacher says.