UNICEF to stock half billion syringes prior to arrival of COVID-19 vaccine

NEW DELHI: United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has said that it will stockpile around 520 million syringes in their warehouses. This action is based on its larger aim of one billion hypodermic needles by 2021 to ensure the availability of syringes in countries before the arrival of COVID-19 vaccine.

United Nations Organisation (UNO) said that as the world awaits the vaccine for COVID-19, UNICEF has begun preparing for rapid, safe and efficient delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine. The agency has thus started preparing stocks of syringes and pre-positioning other equipment.  It added that as and when vaccine trials are completed and the vaccine is licensed to use, the world will need a large number of syringes.

UNICEF has planned to deliver around one billion syringes in 2021 to support the supply of COVID-19 vaccination. Moreover, the agency will also purchase almost 620 million syringes for vaccination against non-COVID diseases such as measles, typhoid, etc.

Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF, said that vaccinating the whole world against COVID-19 will be one of the largest mass undertakings in history. To achieve the targets in time, we have to move fast now. She added that at the end of this year, the agency will already have over half a billion syringes stocked to make them available in time.

UNICEF is also purchasing around 5 million safety boxes in order to safely dispose the used syringes and needles at health facilities. Every safety box carries 100 syringes and the agency is bundling the syringes with safety boxes so that there are enough boxes to along with the syringes. UNICEF said that the shelf life of the equipment is around five years.

UNICEF, along with World Health Organisation (WHO), is also mapping out existing cold chain equipment and storage capacity in private and public sector. This is to make sure that the vaccines are stored and transported at the right temperature.