Wrapup 1: Japan to start inoculation drive Wednesday amid shortage of special syringes
16/02/2021 11:58
By Kiyoshi Takenaka
TOKYO, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Japan will kick off its COVID-19
vaccination programme on Wednesday amid concerns that a shortage
of special syringes could lead to the waste of millions of doses
of Pfizer vaccine as the country grapples with its third and
most serious wave of infections.
Japan's vaccination programme chief Taro Kono announced the
launch of the programme at a news conference on Tuesday after
the government officially approved Pfizer Inc's PFE.N COVID-19
vaccine on Sunday, the first such approval in Japan.
But fears are growing in Japan that millions of doses of
Pfizer vaccine could be wasted due to a shortage of special
syringes that maximise the number of shots used from each vial.
The government has made urgent requests, but manufacturers
are struggling to ramp up production fast enough, creating the
latest headache for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who suffers
from weak public support.
"We are still trying to secure these special syringes,"
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Tuesday.
Japan's vaccination drive, the last to be launched among G7
industralised nations, will start with 40,000 medical workers.
The government will then target people aged 65 or above,
those with existing health conditions, and workers at elderly
care facility workers. The vaccination drive would be completed
within a year, Kono said.
"Now that we are starting our inoculation drive - a crucial
card to play in our fight against the coronavirus pandemic - I
hope that many people get vaccinated while correctly
understanding the benefits and risks," he said.
Inoculating Japan's population swiftly is a top priority for
Suga's government as he is determined to hold the Tokyo Olympics
this summer after the Games were postponed for a year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan, with a population of 126 million, has so far signed
contracts to procure 314 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from
Pfizer Inc, AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L and Moderna Inc MRNA.O ,
enough for 157 million people.
SYRINGE SHORTAGE
Japan last month signed a contract with Pfizer Inc to
procure 144 million doses of its vaccine, or enough for 72
million people.
One vial is meant for six shots, Pfizer says, but it takes
special syringes that retain a low volume of solution after an
injection to extract six doses, while only five shots can be
taken with standard syringes that the government has stored up
in preparation for the inoculation drive.
When asked last week, Kato did not directly answer questions
whether the shortage of the ideal syringe meant the number of
shots Japan can administer would be reduced, but on Tuesday he
conceded that without it there would be waste.
"When it comes to what's left in vials and syringes, what's
unused will be disposed of," Kato said.
Both a Pfizer Japan spokeswoman and a Japanese health
ministry official declined to say whether the contract to supply
Japan with 144 million doses of vaccine by the end of the year
is based on six doses being taken from each vial.
"I want to do everything I can to make sure that we can get
six doses, considering that there are so many people around the
world waiting to be vaccinated, and Japan can't be the one
country that is wasting its vaccines," Kono said.
In a bid to minimise the amount of vaccine left unused in
syringes and vials, the government is asking medical equipment
manufacturers to boost output of the low dead-space syringes,
but there are doubts whether that can be done quickly enough.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KM06O
Although daily cases have been in decline in recent weeks in
Japan after peaking in early January, Tokyo and nine other
prefectures are still under the coronavirus state of emergency.
(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Additional reporting by Ritsuko
Ando and Sakura Murakami; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Ana
Nicolaci da Costa)
((kiyoshi.takenaka@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 4563 2788;))