Millions of people in Japan will not receive Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine as planned due to a shortage of specialist syringes – a oversight that could frustrate the country’s vaccination program.
According to Health Minister Norihisa Tamura, standard syringes used in Japan cannot produce the sixth and final dose from every vial manufactured by the US drug manufacturer.
Japan received 144 million shots of the Pfizer vaccine – enough for 72 million people – on the assumption that each vial contained six doses.
According to Pfizer, each receiver needs two stab wounds, three weeks apart, to increase the level of protection.
But a shortage of low “dead space” syringes – with narrow plungers that can eject any remaining vaccine – means that injectors in Japan should primarily use standard syringes that can only fetch five doses per bottle, or enough for 60 million people.
“The syringes used in Japan can only draw five doses,” Tamura was quoted as saying by the Kyodo news agency. “We use all the syringes that can contain six doses, but of course that will not be enough as more shots are fired.”
The government is asking medical device manufacturers to increase the production of specialist syringes.
Japan is not alone in tackling the problem. The countries of the USA and the European Union have also reported a shortage of low dead space sprayers, which means that there is likely to be strong competition to secure extra supplies quickly.
A Japanese health ministry told Jiji Press: “When the contract was signed, we were not entirely sure that one bottle could be used for six shots. We can not deny that we were slow to confirm this. ”
When Japan launched its Covid vaccination program in mid-February – a few months later than many other developed economies – health workers who could not withdraw the sixth dose would have to throw it away, said Katsunobu Kato, the government’s biggest spokesman.
The government has defended its cautious approach to vaccine deployment, which is expected to begin on February 17, pending local approval for the Pfizer vaccine two days earlier.
Japan begins vaccinating 10,000 to 20,000 health workers up front, whose condition will be closely monitored for any side effects, followed by another 3.7 million health workers from mid-March.
The rollout for 36 million people aged 65 and older is not expected to start until early April.
Just over 8 million people with pre-existing health conditions and 7.5 million 60-64 year olds will also benefit. The general population – people between the ages of 16 and 59 – only started around July, when Tokyo planned to host the postponed Summer Olympics.
AstraZeneca requested approval for the vaccine last month, while the Moderna vaccine is expected to receive regulatory approval only in May.
In total, Japan received enough doses for 157 million people.