Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), the world’s largest manufacturer of injection devices, has announced that the UK government has ordered 65 million needles and syringes to support its Covid-19 vaccination effort.

The needles and syringes will all be delivered by mid-September 2020, with the first shipments arriving in the country on 18 June. The UK government is one of the first in the world to secure vaccine injection devices to prepare for a national inoculation program.

While many annual vaccines come ready-to-deliver in prefilled syringes, rapid production needs mean that the new vaccine is anticipated to be made available initially in single or multidose vials. These require the use of separate needles and syringes to draw the vaccine from the vial and administer it to patients.