Samsung on Wednesday said it is importing 1 million innovative Low Dead Space (LDS) syringes, which help reduce vaccine wastage during injection, to support India's COVID-19 vaccination drive.
LDS syringes minimise the amount of drug left in the syringe after an injection, reducing vaccine wastage and thereby enabling 20 per cent more people to get the dose with the same amount of vaccine.
This innovative syringe, which is being imported from South Korea as part of Samsung's Covid Support programme for India, has already been introduced in a few markets including the US to optimise vaccination, it added.
The South Korean 'chaebol' (conglomerate) has already delivered 3.25 lakh LDS syringes each to the district administrations in Lucknow and Noida in Uttar Pradesh. It will soon hand over 3.50 lakh LDS syringes to the Greater Chennai Corporation in Tamil Nadu, it added.
"The technology behind LDS syringes has demonstrated up to 20 per cent greater efficiency. That means if existing syringes were to deliver one million doses, LDS syringes could deliver 1.2 million doses with the same amount of vaccine," it said.
Samsung has also helped the manufacturer of these syringes increase production capacity. Samsung India Vice President and Head of CSR, Partha Ghosh said Samsung stands strong with the nation in these testing times.
Over the past few weeks, it has focused on providing support to governments with oxygen concentrators and oxygen cylinders, and financial grants to purchase more of these equipment as this was the need of the hour, he added.
"Now, as our country focuses on vaccinating the population, we are supporting this effort with innovative LDS syringes that will help reduce vaccine wastage and vaccinate more people with the same amount of vaccine," Ghosh said.
Samsung has pledged USD 5 million (Rs 37 crore) as its contribution to India's fight against COVID-19, providing donations to central and state governments. This includes USD 2 million worth of medical supplies, including 100 oxygen concentrators, 3,000 oxygen cylinders and 1 million LDS syringes.