Japanese Government Requests Tens of Millions of Special Syringes from Korea... "Just Pathetic," Japanese Netizens 'Boiling'

Shortage of Special Syringes Minimizing Vaccine Waste
Allows Over 6 Doses per Vial Unlike Regular Syringes
Risk of Vaccine Disposal if Syringes Are Insufficient

President Moon Jae-in is demonstrating a comparison between a regular syringe and a low dead space (LDS) syringe for COVID-19 vaccination at Punglim Pharmatech, a production facility for LDS syringes, in Gunsan, Jeonbuk, on the afternoon of the 18th. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The Japanese government, which purchased COVID-19 vaccines but discarded some doses due to the failure to secure the special syringes required for vaccination, has been confirmed to have made a large purchase request to a Korean syringe company, sparking anger among some Japanese netizens. Voices criticizing the Japanese government's shortcomings have emerged, as it appears they requested help from a Korean company due to their failure to predict syringe demand early. However, some have pointed out that this incident should serve as an opportunity to foster friendly relations between South Korea and Japan.

According to reports from local Japanese media such as 'Nihon TV' on the 18th (local time), the Japanese government recently placed a large order of 80 million syringes with 'Poonglim Pharmatech,' a Korean manufacturer of Low Dead Space (LDS) special syringes.

These syringes were developed to reduce the leftover vaccine after injection, characterized by minimizing the space between the syringe piston and needle. Unlike regular syringes, which can inject five doses per vaccine vial, LDS syringes can inject six or more doses per vial.

Earlier, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare contracted for a total of 72 million doses from the American global pharmaceutical company Pfizer in December last year, based on the assumption of 'six doses per vaccine vial.'

Yoshihide Suga (second from the left, top row), Prime Minister of Japan, observed the COVID-19 vaccination process at the state-run Tokyo Medical Center in Tokyo on the 18th (local time). Japan began COVID-19 vaccinations with the Pfizer vaccine the previous day. / Photo by Yonhap News

The problem lies in the fact that the Ministry of Health did not take measures to introduce special syringes afterward. This means that despite leftover vaccines, there could be a shortage of syringes, making vaccination impossible.

Given this situation, the Japanese government urgently requested syringe manufacturers to increase production of special syringes but received a negative response. One syringe manufacturer, the Japanese company 'Nipro,' decided to increase production of special syringes, but actual supply is expected only around September. Consequently, they had no choice but to request purchases from companies in other countries such as South Korea.

Upon hearing this news, Japanese netizens criticized the government, expressing disappointment with the 'government's complacent vaccination plan.' There are criticisms that despite having enough time to increase production of special syringes before mass vaccination, the government failed to accurately predict the required quantity.

One Japanese netizen wrote on Twitter, "We bought the vaccines two months ago, but during that time, they couldn't properly grasp the number of syringes needed," adding, "It's just pathetic."

Another netizen compared the two countries, saying, "South Korea had already expanded production since December last year, so this situation did not occur," and "We only recently realized that increasing syringe production is difficult."

Meanwhile, some voices have emphasized the importance of friendly relations between South Korea and Japan.

One netizen pointed out, "If South Korea did not have syringe production capacity, could the Japanese government have quickly secured syringes?" and added, "This is why it is important to maintain harmonious relations with neighboring countries with deep trade ties."

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