TOKYO, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Japan is working to provide special syringes to maximize the number of COVID-19 vaccines used in each ampoule, but manufacturers are struggling to speed up production, raising fears that millions of doses could be lost. .
Japan, with a population of 126 million, signed a contract with Pfizer Inc last month to procure 144 million doses of its vaccine, or enough for 72 million people, with the vaccination campaign set to begin on Wednesday.
One vial is intended for six photos, says Pfizer, but special syringes are needed that keep a low volume of solution after an injection to extract six doses, while only five photos can be taken with standard syringes that the government provides. stored in preparation for the inoculation unit.
“We are still trying to secure these special syringes,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Tuesday.
He did not answer questions directly when asked last week if the lack means that the number of photos Japan can take will be reduced.
Both a Pfizer Japan spokeswoman and a Japanese health ministry official declined to say whether the contract to supply Japan with 144 million doses of vaccine by the end of the year is based on six doses taken from each vial.
Rapid inoculation of the population is a major priority for the government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is determined to host the Tokyo Olympics this summer, after the Games were postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In an attempt to minimize the amount of vaccine left unused in syringes and vials, the government is urging medical equipment manufacturers to increase production of dead syringes, but there are doubts whether this can be done quickly enough.
Nipro Corp., which runs a factory in Thailand capable of producing 500,000 units a month, said it plans to increase its monthly capacity to several million, but that it will take up to five months to reach that goal.
“We are receiving a request from the Ministry of Health and we need to take some steps. But it’s not something we can do overnight. There are still four or five months until we can suddenly grow up “, said a Nipro spokesperson.
Another large Japanese medical equipment manufacturer Terumo Corp. said it had begun developing syringes suitable for extracting six doses from a vial, but that it was too early to say when commercial production could begin.
Although daily cases have declined in recent weeks in Japan since the peak in early January, Tokyo and nine other prefectures are still under the state of coronavirus emergency.
Japan reported about 418,000 cases, with 7,042 deaths, according to public broadcaster NHK. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Additional reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)