The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the world could face a scarcity of one to two billion syringes required to administer the Covid-19 shot next year, Reuters reported. This shortage could affect routine vaccinations and compromise needle safety, the agency said. WHO group lead on supply and access to medicines Lisa Hedman told a UN briefing that national health agencies should plan their syringe requirements in advance to prevent hoarding and panic purchasing.
Japanese company Denka will recall 130,000 boxes of Covid-19 antigen rapid test kits supplied by the government to medical facilities and care home centres. The company issued a voluntary recall of QuickNavi – COVID19 Ag, produced at its factory in Niigata Prefecture in December 2020, following a material defect found in some kits, The Mainichi reported. This issue could lead to delivery of false positive results in individuals.
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The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued a $14.9m grant to Anavasi Diagnostics under the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative to expedite the launch and market availability of its new rapid molecular Covid-19 test. The AscencioDx molecular diagnostic platform can identify the ribonucleic acid indicative of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The test can deliver results in line with polymerase chain reaction testing in under 30 minutes. Anavasi is currently analysing the test in clinical trials and intends to seek Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) soon.
