TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Terumo Corp said on Tuesday it had developed a new syringe that could extract seven doses from each vial of COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer Inc., at least one more than what is available with existing syringes .
The health ministry approved the design on Friday and Terumo will begin production at the end of March, a Terumo spokesman told Reuters. The Kyodo News Agency, which first reported on the development, said Terumo intends to make 20 million units this year.
The vaccine, made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, is shipped in vials initially indicated to contain five doses. Six doses can be drawn with special syringes, called a low dead space, which reduces the amount of vaccine left in the syringe after use.
Japan launched its COVID-19 vaccination campaign last month using Pfizer’s vaccine. Taro Kono, the minister responsible for the attempt, said on Friday that some shots could possibly go amid a shortage of special syringes.
Reported by Noriyuki Hirata and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Edited by Lincoln Feast.