COVID-19: WHO warns of 'syringe shortage' in 2022, says could lead to 'serious problem'

The World Health Organisation (WHO), warned Tuesday, about a possible shortfall of syringes that could jeopardise the COVID vaccination process next year. While inoculation is already low in many parts of the world, a production shortage and ultimately supply bottleneck of syringes could lead to “serious problems” across the world. As per the global health body, countries could face a shortfall of roughly two billion syringes in 2022, resulting from their increased usage during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“We are raising the real concern that we could have a shortage of immunization syringes, which would, in turn, lead to serious problems, such as slowing down immunization efforts," WHO’s senior advisor Lisa Hedman said adding that “Depending on how the vaccine uptake goes, it could be a deficit of anywhere from one billion to two billion." However, in a statement, she also suggested a way to counter the problem saying that the production of syringes should match that of vaccine jabs.

While elaborating on the negative effects of the expected shortage, she said that it could dramatically show down vaccination, causing delays in routine inoculation. If youngsters aren’t vaccinating in time, it could ultimately lead to a public health impact for years to come, she said. In addendum, supply shortages could also lead to the reuse of used syringes and needles- a practice regarded as highly unsafe. As of now, more than 7.32 billion shots have been administered worldwide. 

What are the WHO-Certified COVID Vaccines?

With the addition of Covaxin in WHO EUL, the total count of COVID vaccines approved by the international healthcare body stands at eight. Here are the COVID vaccines approved by the WHO:

Moderna (mRNA-1273)

Approved in 76 countries

Pfizer/BioNTech (BNT162b2)

Approved in 103 countries

Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) Ad26.COV2.S

Approved in 75 countries

Oxford/AstraZeneca (AZD1222)

Approved in 124 countries

Serum Institute of India - Covishield (ChAdOx1_nCoV19)

Approved in 46 countries

Bharat Biotech - Covaxin

Approved in 9 countries

Sinopharm (Beijing) SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated (lnCoV)

Approved in 68 countries

Sinovac (CoronaVac)

Approved in 42 countries

(Image: AP /Pixabay)