COVID-19 vaccine syringes ready for administration are seen in this photo. (Mainichi/Koichiro Tezuka)

       GUNMA -- One of the 108 jabs administered at a mass coronavirus vaccination site on July 12 in the city of Numata, Gunma Prefecture, is highly likely to have been accidentally given with an empty syringe, the city announced July 13.

       Because the municipal government does not know who the individual is, it will quickly work to confirm their identity by subjecting all 108 people to blood tests to determine the amount of antibodies their inoculation produced.

       But because antibody levels can vary by person, it is possible the city will not be able to identify the individual.

       According to the municipal government, one syringe still filled with the vaccine was found at a health and welfare center following mass inoculations held from 6 p.m. on July 12 for welfare facility employees and those aged 65 and over.

       Only 107 needles were discarded, and it is suspected an empty syringe was used on one of the 108 people. Staff may have accidentally placed an empty, used syringe on a tray for ones with the vaccine in them.

       Syringes used at the venue were not the long, narrow 1-milliliter type health care workers are accustomed to, but the 2-milliliter type distributed by the central government. The plunger is harder to push on them, meaning that if an accident did occur, it is likely that health care workers may not have sensed the syringe was empty.

       (Japanese original by Tetsuya Shoji, Shibukawa Resident Bureau)

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