The world not only faces a shortage of vaccines to combat COVID-19, but it could face a deficit of 1 to 2 billion syringes needed to put jabs into arms, a senior adviser to the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

"A shortage of syringes is, unfortunately, a real possibility," said Lisa Hedman, a WHO senior adviser on access to health products, at a UN news conference in Geneva.

"With a global manufacturing capacity of around 6 billion per year for immunization syringes, it's pretty clear that a deficit in 2022 of over 1 billion could happen if we continue with 'business as usual'," she said, explaining the shortfall could lift as high as 2 million.

This year, there have been nearly double the number of routine vaccinations dispensed each year, which meant double the number of immunization syringes, Hedman added.

She said there are other types of syringes that go beyond that manufacturing capacity, "but if we shift capacity from one type of syringe to another or attempt to expand capacity for specialized immunization syringes, it takes time and investment."

Syringe availability

Syringe availability has to be looked at in terms of global market dynamics, where a constraint on syringe supply would be made worse by export restrictions and transportation problems that have affected many health products.

One serious result of a shortage could be delays in routine immunizations and other health services.

"Here, we are talking about the injections that we give as part of normal health care," said Hedman.

"It could have a public health impact for years to come if we have a generation of children who don't routinely receive childhood vaccinations."

Another problem she cited is the potential for the very unsafe practice of reusing syringes and needles, a problem historically linked to when there are not enough syringes and needles.

"Let's go further into this one. Injections are the most commonly practiced invasive medical procedure. The total is a larger number," said the WHO adviser.

16B injections annually

"We have over 16 billion injections per year, counting vaccines and injectable medicines to treat diseases, and then with COVID-19 vaccines, we move to well over 22 billion. We need to be clear and definite about avoiding this risk."

Regarding syringe manufacturing, Hedman said the vast majority of exports come from both India and China.

In some cases, they come from national producers, and in others, they're affiliated with global suppliers.

Hedman added that there is syringe production almost on every continent.

The WHO adviser said that when it comes to syringes, the world must pay attention to waste management, "making sure that the sharps waste is also planned."

"This means that we have to dispose of the increased amount of sharps waste in a safe and responsible manner to avoid risk at the point of disposal where people can be exposed to unclean needles in their work or waste collection sites," Hedman also noted./aa