Covid, WHO alarm: “Syringes for vaccines are missing”

Syringes are missing to vaccinate the planet, against Covid-19 and beyond. The alarm was raised today from Geneva by Lisa Hedman of the World Health Organization, who estimates a possible shortage of 1-2 billion syringes by 2022. A further obstacle to achieving the already difficult goal of global immunization against Sars-CoV-2, which according to the expert could penalize especially the poorest countries because they generally order smaller quantities of devices, finding themselves at a disadvantage among producers. And routine vaccinations against infections such as measles, mumps and rubella could also pay the price for this shortage, warns Hedman. According to WHO estimates, there are 16 billion injections in the world in a normal year. Before the pandemic, 5-10% of this figure was vaccinations, but in Covid era 6.8 billion additional injections were administered internationally as part of coronavirus prophylaxis, multiplying the demand for syringes. Those used for vaccinations, also reports the United Nations health agency, differ from devices used for other purposes. According to WHO calculations, producers can manufacture around 6 billion a year, but next year the demand could be 4 to 7 times higher than in the pre-pandemic period. The major exporting countries are India and China, recalls the Geneva agency that invites countries to plan their needs and orders in advance, calculating delivery times that often reach 6 months.