Medical equipment makers are scrambling to increase both domestic and overseas production of special syringes that can more efficiently administer the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc., following a request from the Japanese government. The special syringes can deliver six doses per vial rather than five.
Few such syringes had been produced in Japan due to low domestic demand.
A standard syringe has a space near the tip, and some medicine remains in the space every time a shot is given. The remaining medicine needs to be discarded, and so only five doses can be obtained from each vial with standard syringes.
Terumo Corp. has produced syringes that can extract six doses, but because their needles are short, the syringes cannot be used with the U.S. pharmaceutical company's vaccines, which are given by intramuscular injection into the upper arm. At the request of the government, Terumo developed a new syringe with a longer needle.
The company will start production of the new syringes after obtaining government approval. It intends to revamp facilities at its Kofu plant in Yamanashi Prefecture to start production as soon as possible.
Nipro Corp., which has already started supplying the government with syringes capable of extracting six doses from each vial, plans to boost production at its plant in Thailand. It will increase its monthly production capacity from the current 500,000 units to several million units. However, the syringes to be produced with the increased capacity are not expected to reach Japan until September or October, according to the company.
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