News > World faces shortage of syringes as COVID vaccine doses rise

World faces shortage of syringes as COVID vaccine doses rise

African health officials and the United Nations are warning of a looming shortage of more than 2 billion syringes for mainly low- and middle-income countries around the world as the supply of COVID-19 doses rises, and routine vaccinations could be affected, too.

The UN children’s agency said the shortfall would affect up to 2.2 billion auto-disposable syringes that lock automatically to prevent them from being used again.