Massive syringe shortage can hit world in 2022, warns WHO report

According to a new report of the World Health Organisation, there could be a global syringe shortage of around two billion next year.  

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The shortage may come up due to the worldwide COVID-19 vaccine campaigns. Over 7.25 billion doses have been administered around the globe, as per the AFP. It is double the number of vaccines usually given in a year. So, twice as many syringes have been used, eating up huge number of global supplies.

The production needs to ramp up or the situation may lead to hoarding and panic buying. It will also hit the efforts to protect people against several illnesses, the WHO said.  

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"We are raising the real concern that we could have a shortage of immunisation syringes, which would in turn lead to serious problems, such as slowing down immunisation efforts. Depending on how the vaccine uptake goes, it could be a deficit of anywhere from one billion to two billion," Lisa Hedman, WHO senior advisor to the Division of Access to Medicines and Health Products, told AFP.  

Hedman urged countries to plan ahead at a press conference in Geneva.   

(With inputs from agencies)