Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
Slovakia does not only suffer from a lack of vaccines, but also a lack of suitable syringes with needles with what is called dead space.
When compared to ordinary needles, there is less injected liquid retained in the tip, so it can drag the sixth dose from a vial of the Comirnaty vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTEch. As a result, it does not have to be thrown away.
Some hospital say they have had such syringes at their disposal for several weeks only, the Sme daily reported.
If there is problem with the lack of syringes, it may complicate the vaccination process even more, slowed by the drop in the vaccines supply by Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
The largest private network of hospitals, Svet Zdravia (World of Health), belonging to Penta, said the problem could have been prevented if the syringes had been purchased by the state, similarly to the vaccines.
Health Minister Marek Krajčí (OĽaNO) said last month that there is no problem with the stockpiles.
