COVID-19 Pandemic Brings Global Syringe Shortage into Sharp Focus

Addis Ababa, November 10, 2021 (Walta) – Efforts to boost COVID-19 vaccine production should be matched by access to the syringes needed to inject them – and there could even be a global shortage of needles for regular immunization campaigns next year – the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Based on a scenario where around seven billion people need two doses of coronavirus vaccine between now and 2023, the UN health agency said that a shortage of at least one billion syringes “could occur”, if manufacturing does not pick up.

Lisa Hedman, WHO Senior Advisor, from the Access to Medicines and Health Products division, warned that a generation of children might miss scheduled immunization jabs unless manufacturers find a way to make more single-use disposable syringes.

“When you think about the magnitude of the number of injections being given to respond to the pandemic, this is not a place where we can afford shortcuts, shortages, or anything short of full safety for patients and healthcare staff,” the WHO expert said.

She told journalists in Geneva that more than 6.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines are being administered globally per year, which is nearly double the number of routine inoculations delivered annually:

“A shortage of syringes is, unfortunately, a real possibility, and here are some more numbers. That the global manufacturing capacity of around six billion a year for immunization syringes it’s pretty clear that a deficit in 2022 of over a billion could happen if we continue with business as usual.”

Ms. Hedman explained that reusing syringes even after they have been sterilized was not advised, as harmful bacteria remained present.

She also noted that syringes were particularly prone to transport delays because they took up 10 times the space of a vaccine.

Meanwhile, the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Group, WHO, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) held a follow-up session of High-Level Consultations with the CEOs of leading COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing companies on Tuesday.

At the meeting, according to a press release, all participants agreed on the urgency of delivering more vaccine doses to low-income countries, where less than 2.5 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated.

The effort will require close collaboration between manufacturers, governments, and the international COVAX initiative, on enhanced delivery schedules, especially for doses that are being donated, according to the UN.