Japan bought the wrong syringe…

In Japan, where vaccination for a novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) developed by the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer will begin on the 17th, the number of people who can be vaccinated has been sharply reduced due to lack of preparation by the government.

A COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed and distributed by Pfizer and Biontech. [AFP=연합뉴스]

According to Japanese media such as NHK on the 10th, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare initially signed a contract with Pfizer for a total of 72 million people (for 144 million doses), calculated based on ‘6 vaccinations per bottle of vaccine’. However, it was belatedly revealed that only 5 doses per bottle could be collected with a syringe secured by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The number of people who can get the Pfizer vaccine has been reduced by nearly 20% due to the mistake of buying a syringe.

Pfizer puts a certain amount of vaccine in a small bottle and supplies it to each country, but with a commonly used syringe, there is a problem that a certain amount remains in the needle and barrel after injecting 5 times. In order to utilize the remaining vaccine, the use of a minimum residual amount syringe was recommended, and Pfizer changed the guidelines that if you use this specially made syringe, you can inoculate up to six times per bottle.

Accordingly, the US decided to collect 6 doses from last month, and revised the supply time of 200 million doses of vaccine supplied from Pfizer to the end of May this year, two months ahead of schedule. The EU (European Union) and the UK also admit 6 doses in one bottle.

However, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare did not take measures such as introducing a new syringe even after receiving a call from Pfizer that it is reviewing six doses per bottle. It was only after official contact at the end of last month that it was confirmed that only 5 times per bottle can be collected with more than 200 million syringes currently purchased.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu admitted at a press conference on the afternoon of the 9th that “a special syringe is needed to collect 6 times per bottle, and it is very difficult to obtain as many special syringes as necessary.” He said, “The Ministry of Health and Welfare will amend the guidelines to ‘5 times per bottle’ and contact the local government.”

In this case, the amount of Pfizer vaccine that the Japanese government announced that it has already secured will be reduced by one-sixth, which will disrupt the vaccination schedule. Although there was time to secure a special syringe since the end of last year, criticism of the inability to efficiently use the supplied vaccine due to failure to prepare it became inevitable.

The Japanese government has announced that it will start vaccination for medical staff from the 17th, but has not yet revealed a specific vaccination plan.

Tokyo = Correspondent Lee Young-hee [email protected]