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Hindustan Syringes & Medical Devices Ltd (HMD) has sent its first shipment of 56 million pieces of KOJAK auto-disable syringes to the Covax facility, as the development of a Covid-19 vaccine enters the last lap.
The Covax facility is the vaccine pillar of an international, WHO-supported effort that works towards global equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. It has ordered 140 million KOJAK AD syringes from HMD to be supplied between August and December 2020, a statement from the company said.
Touted among the largest manufacturers of disposable syringes in the world and the largest auto-disable syringe maker, HMD is scaling up production to meet the target of a billion vaccines in the first half of 2021.
“We have shipped out more than 56 million pieces of 5 ml auto disabled (AD) syringes for intra muscular syringes to Covax facility and will soon send the next shipment of 28 million syringes by October end” said Rajiv Nath, HMD-Managing Director.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has taught the importance of infection prevention practices like hand-hygiene to all. The focus has shifted to single use disposable consumables from reuse consumables and a change has particularly been seen in the higher deployment of auto-disable syringes even for curative injections, the company said.
WHO and UNICEF recommend auto-disable syringes for vaccines — particularly in mass immunisation programmes. WHO has also suggested the use of auto-disable syringes to collect blood samples of Covid 19 patients, which helps avoid the transmission of disease through healthcare equipment, it added.
Indian requirement
While HMD is geared to meet the syringe demands, the note said, it is waiting for the Indian government to start creating a stockpile as being done by other countries.
“Should the government need 100 million KOJAK auto-disable syringes for Covid-19 vaccines by the end of this year, we can easily offer them to lift the outstanding orders placed with us. However, Indian government is yet to make a move or ordering, though they have started consulting manufacturers for spare capacity availability beyond the standard immunisation programme,” Nath said.
“We plan to allocate 50 per cent of the total 0.5 ML AD Syringes produced for the government of India and 50 per cent for export as we have got a global responsibility too. But we would appreciate clarity from the government soon,” he added.
The company has been getting calls from Japan and the US for disposable syringes and Indonesia for auto disposable syringes as the countries start to stockpile in anticipation of a Covid vaccine, the company said.
With over nine plants, HMD’s disposable syringe, DISPOVAN has over 60 percent market share with its Dispovan Needle and Dispovan Insulin Syringes having over 70 percent market share, it added.
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