TOKYO, Feb. 16 (Reuters) – Japan is trying to secure special syringes to maximize COVID-19 vaccine shots from each vial, but manufacturers struggle to ramp up production quickly, raising fears that millions of doses could be lost .
Japan, with a population of 126 million, last month signed a contract with Pfizer Inc to purchase 144 million doses of its vaccine, or enough for 72 million people, with the vaccination campaign kicking off Wednesday.
One vial is for six injections, says Pfizer, but it requires special syringes that hold a low volume of solution after an injection to extract six doses, while only five injections can be taken with standard syringes stockpiled by the government in preparation for the inoculation drive.
“We are still trying to secure these special syringes,” said Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato on Tuesday.
He didn’t answer the questions right away when asked last week if the shortage meant reducing the number of shots Japan can administer.
Both a Pfizer Japan spokeswoman and an official for the Japanese Ministry of Health 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 taken from each vial.
Rapidly inoculating the population is a top priority for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government as he is determined to host the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer after the Games were delayed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In an effort to minimize the amount of unused vaccine in syringes and vials, the government is asking medical device manufacturers to increase the output of low dead space syringes, but there is doubt that this can be done quickly enough.
Nipro Corp, which runs a plant in Thailand capable of producing 500,000 units per month, said it planned to ramp up its monthly capacity to a few million, but it would take up to five months to reach that goal.
“We receive a request from the Ministry of Health and we need to take some steps. But it is not something that we can do overnight. It will take another four to five months before we can make good progress, ”said a Nipro spokeswoman.
Another major Japanese medical device manufacturer, Terumo Corp, said it had started developing syringes capable of taking six doses from a vial, but it was too early to say when it could start commercial production.
While daily cases in Japan have declined in recent weeks after peaking in early January, Tokyo and nine other prefectures are still under the coronavirus emergency.
Japan has seen a total of about 418,000 cases, with 7,042 deaths, according to public broadcaster NHK. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Additional reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)