Worries about lack of syringes as vaccines arrive in Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is receiving its coronavirus vaccines without necessary accompanying medical material, such as syringes, which have to be supplied by hospitals from their own supplies. The state is working on acquiring the equipment and has also joined a joint European programme to purchase syringes from China, which ordered a total of 1.2 billion syringes last year, Czech Radio reported on Tuesday, citing a December government report.

According to the report, the state requires 12 million syringes for the vaccination plan to be carried out. However, the Health Ministry only recorded several hundred thousand syringes in hospital stocks last week. Health Minister Jan Blatný said on Tuesday that he believes the necessary medical equipment from China should arrive within the next two months.