Japanese government accidentally discards 12 million Pfizer vaccines Global

The Corona 19 (new coronavirus infection) Pfizer vaccine, which can be vaccinated by 12 million people in Japan, is at risk of being discarded by mistake by the government. This is due to the lack of special syringes suitable for collecting Pfizer vaccines.

According to Japanese media such as NHK on the 10th, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare initially planned to inoculate 6 doses per bottle of Pfizer vaccine, but it was belatedly learned that only 5 doses per bottle with a domestic syringe.

Noricha Tamura, the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare announced a plan to change the number of vaccinations per bottle of Pfizer vaccine from 6 to 5 at the House Budget Committee the previous day.

The Japanese government plans to receive 144 million doses (72 million people) of vaccines from Pfizer within this year. However, as the number of vaccinations per bottle was reduced from 6 to 5, the number of possible vaccinations decreased from 72 million to 60 million. The vaccine for 12 million people will be discarded.

The problem is the syringe. Pfizer vaccine stock solution is supplied in a bottle, and when inoculated, a predetermined amount is collected by stabbing a syringe into the bottle. In December of last year, Pfizer informed Japan of its policy to collect 6 doses per bottle. However, Japanese officials only learned at the end of last month that a special syringe was needed to collect six batches.

As a result of reviewing the syringes in Japan, it was found that most of them can only collect five doses per bottle. This is because the injection drug remains in the needle or syringe. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare started securing special syringes belatedly, but it is difficult to secure sufficient amounts.

As the vaccine is inevitable for 12 million people to be discarded due to the syringe problem, there are concerns that the number of people who can get the Pfizer vaccine will decrease in Japan.

In this situation, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that the corona 19 vaccination will begin in the middle of next week.

According to NHK and Jiji News on the day, Prime Minister Suga said at a liaison meeting between the government and the ruling party that “confirm the effectiveness and safety of the corona 19 vaccination, and start in the middle of next week.”

Prime Minister Suga said, “It is essential to cooperate with local governments in charge of the field operation of (vaccination), doctors, and nurses. We will continue to do our best to prepare everything.”

At the same time, he said, “We are very sorry to put an additional burden on the people,” and “we decided that it was necessary to recover the infection anyway.” Said.

Reporter Kang Kyung-joo [email protected]

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