Japanese doctors will throw away Pfizer's scarce covid vaccine

Cabinet Secretary General Katsunobu Kato told reporters about plans for the forced disposal of a scarce Pfizer vaccine.

“It is not easy to buy the right amount of these special syringes, and there are not many available around the world. Now we are negotiating with several manufacturers", - Kato TASS quotes.

According to doctors, one bottle of Pfizer vaccine contains six doses of injections. The last dose can be pumped out of each container only with a special syringe. If there are not enough such syringes, and doctors use ordinary ones, then only five doses of the precious vaccine are extracted from the vial, and the sixth is lost: it simply has to be thrown away.

According to the Japanese authorities, a shortage of special syringes has meant that the country will not be able to fulfill its original plan to vaccinate 72 million people. Only 60 million will be able to vaccinate against coronavirus.

The Japanese authorities approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine on February 14. Vaccinations are expected to begin on 17 February. Physicians and social workers are included in the number of first-priority recipients. Then retirees over 65 will be vaccinated. After them - people with chronic diseases, and after that the vaccine will be provided to everyone else.

Three drugs will participate in the vaccination campaign in the country. These are vaccines from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna. The Japanese authorities signed contracts with all three for the supply of drugs back in 2020.