Centre to stockpile syringes for Covid-19 vaccination

The Union government has placed additional orders with suppliers of syringes, who supply to its routine immunisation programme, to handle the additional requirement for Covid vaccination.

For the routine immunisation programme, the country approximately needs 300 million vaccines and syringes a year on a thumb rule basis. If 65 to 70% of its 1.3 billion-plus population has to be vaccinated for Covid-19, it needs 900 million injections. And if the vaccine has to be injected twice, then 1.8 billion injections are required.

“On October 29, we received an additional order for 5.22 crore auto-disable syringes of 0.5 ml from the Union government in order to meet the Covid vaccination requirements,” said Sandeep Bhandari, vice-president of Jodhpur-based ISCON Surgicals Ltd.

ISCON is one of the two Indian companies that supplies syringes to the country’s routine immunisation programme. The third is a China-based company.

Auto-disable syringes cannot be reused. They incorporate a mechanism to break or lock the plunger when the injection is given to make the syringe inoperable for being used for second time.

“We have committed to supply 9.4 crore syringes by March 2021. We have been told to expect the second order and plan for it, but it has not been issued yet,” said Rajiv Nath, managing director, Hindustan Syringes and Medical Devices Limited (HMD).

Both suppliers told DH that though there is an ongoing tender of a period of two years from 2020-2022, the government has decided to expand the base of the original tender, and has gone back to all the three suppliers. It has asked them to give additional supplies of syringes over what they have committed in the orders earlier placed with them.

Petrochemical-based raw materials like polypropylene and stainless steel capillary tubes are being procured on a war-footing for making these syringes.

Syringes are being procured at less than Rs 2 per piece. To make it cost effective, a high-level precision engineering and automation is required. The equipment is imported from Japan, Germany and Switzerland, and it takes nine months to one year for manufacturing, and another three months for delivery, installation and quality validation before being commissioned.

Since these are voluminous products, additional storage spaces are also needed. For storing one billion syringes, approximately 4,00,000 sqft area will be required.

Meanwhile, S Aparna, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Health Ministry, who heads the sub committee on vaccine supply chain and logistics, did not respond to calls and emails from DH.