PUTRAJAYA – The Health Ministry is carrying out the procurement of low dead-volume syringes with local and foreign companies, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
He said this syringe is needed to administer Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shots, and is appropriate as it could avoid wastage and maximise the number of to-be-given doses, especially in Phase 1 of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme slated for February 26.
“The vaccine should be administered carefully as we need to avoid wastage. This syringe also meets the specifications requested by Pfizer.”
Low dead-volume syringes generally refer to zero-waste syringes, which ensure that the recipient of the injection receives the entire dose of vaccine.
Last Saturday, Dr Adham said the ministry needs 12 million such syringes to inject 20% of the country’s population, or six million recipients, in Phase 1 of the vaccination drive.
He said the low dead-volume syringes will be placed at all vaccination sites in the country.
“For the vaccine, we need to have complete equipment. I am confident that with the preparations, we will be able to administer the vaccine carefully and protect the people from Covid-19.”
Dr Adham said 6,542,418 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and antigen rapid test kit tests were conducted from January 24 to last Saturday.
“The tests conducted have helped the ministry in detecting positive cases quickly, and enabled rapid contact tracing.
“I urge those who have had close contact with Covid-19 patients to provide their complete information to district health offices to enable action to be carried out on the transmission of Covid-19.” – Bernama, February 8, 2021
