In Japan, fewer people receive the Pfizer vaccine due to the shortage of syringes

Japan is unlikely to inoculate so many people with Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine. as had been predicted due to the shortage of special syringes capable of extracting the final dose from the vials supplied by the drug manufacturer, said Health Minister Norihisa Tamura.

The country said last month it had reached doses for 72 million people on the assumption that each road could provide six shots. But without syringes with little dead space, which minimize the amount of vaccine left in the syringe after use, one vial ends up giving only five doses, enough for 60 million people.

“The syringes used in Japan can only extract five doses. We will use all the syringes we have that can extract six doses, but of course they will not be enough as more shots are administered,” Tamura said Tuesday.

Top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said Monday that the sixth dose will generally be “discarded” if it cannot be extracted.

The government is urging medical equipment manufacturers to step up production of special syringes.

Reuters reported last month that the United States and European Union countries were also working to secure enough syringes with little dead space to extract more doses of the Pfizer vaccine, with manufacturers urging them to increase their production capacity. global.

Yoshinori Oguchi, a member of the ruling party’s young coalition partner Komeito, said the government should have assumed that each vial could only provide five doses when vaccines were insured for 72 million people.

“When the contract was made, we were not absolutely sure that a bottle could be used for six shots,” a ministry official admitted. “We can’t deny that it took us a while to confirm that.”

As long as Japan does not change the number of vials ordered at Pfizer, it will review the number of doses it can administer to 120 million, according to government sources.

The government should discuss with Pfizer how many more doses it can supply to Japan, a senior health ministry official said.

The Pfizer vaccine, which is already under review by the health ministry, is expected to get approval on Feb. 15, when the ministry will hold a group meeting. Meanwhile, the British AstraZeneca PLC has said it has formally submitted an application to the ministry for approval of its vaccine.

The government plans to begin inoculating health workers from Feb. 17 in a study to verify vaccine safety before starting vaccinations for some 36 million people 65 and older from the month of February. April.