Japan Fails to Secure Special Syringes, Wastes 12 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses

Japan lost 12 million people’s worth (24 million doses) of vaccines due to the failure to secure special syringes. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Hana Na] Japan is set to begin COVID-19 vaccinations for healthcare workers on the 17th, but due to the failure to secure special syringes, 12 million people (24 million doses) worth of vaccines will be wasted.

According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 10th, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that the number of doses per vial of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer will be changed from the originally planned 6 doses to 5 doses.

Previously, the Japanese government had contracted with Pfizer to receive enough vaccine for 72 million people (144 million doses), based on the assumption of 6 doses per vial. However, the government did not introduce a sufficient quantity of special syringes, instead securing over 200 million regular syringes.

One vial of Pfizer’s vaccine can be administered 6 times when using special syringes, which minimize the amount of vaccine left at the tip of the syringe needle compared to regular syringes. With regular syringes, only 5 doses can be administered. If only 5 doses per vial are administered, the total number of possible vaccinations will decrease by about 17% (enough for 12 million people).

The Japanese government stated that it plans to discuss additional vaccine supplies with Pfizer.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.