KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- LDS syringes have been delivered in Lucknow and Noida
- More LDS syringes to be handed over to the Greater Chennai Corporation in Tamil Nadu
- LDS syringes reduces drug wastage by minimising amount of drug left in syringes
Helping India scale up its COVID vaccination drive, South Korean technology giant Samsung is importing innovative Low Dead Space (LDS) syringes. Airlifted from South Korea, 3,25,000 LDS syringes each have been delivered to district administrations in Lucknow and Noida, and another 3,50,000 LDS syringes will soon be handed over to the Greater Chennai Corporation in Tamil Nadu. These syringes will be deployed at COVID vaccination centres in the districts.
A part of the company's COVID support programme for India, Samsung says LDS syringes will minimise the amount of drug left in the syringes after an injection, reducing vaccine wastage, and thereby enabling 20 per cent more people to get the dose with the same amount of vaccine. Samsung has helped the manufacturer of these syringes increase production capacity. These innovative syringes have been introduced for usage in a few markets including the United States to optimise vaccination.
Samsung has pledged $5 million contributions to help India fight against COVID-19. Samsung's contribution includes $2 million worth of medical supplies, including 100 oxygen concentrators, 3,000 oxygen cylinders and one million LDS syringes. The company is providing donations to central and state governments and boosting the healthcare sector with essential medical equipment for hospitals.
"Samsung stands strong with the nation in these testing times. Over the past few weeks, Samsung 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. Now, as our country focusses 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," said Partha Ghosh, Vice President and Head of CSR, Samsung India.
Samsung has also announced that it will cover the vaccination costs for over 50,000 eligible employees and beneficiaries in India.
In April 2020, Samsung had contributed Rs 20 crore to India's fight against the pandemic. This included a donation to the central government and support to the local administration in Noida, where the company had provided hospitals with medical equipment required in the preventive drive against the pandemic such as thousands of masks and Personal Preventive Equipment (PPE) kits.