Berlin
The battle against Covid-19 has delivered not just a vaccine at record speed but also a spike in demand for the billions of syringes needed to administer it. One German factory is already busily churning out the little plastic tubes and is confident global needs can be met. “There won’t be a shortage of syringes, even if we are facing a big challenge,” said Otto-Philipp Braun, co-director of Almo, Germany’s leading syringe manufacturer. At the company’s production site in the central German town of Bad Arolsen, the loud hum of machinery fills the hall. Employees man the assembly lines, wearing masks, hair nets and occasionally ear plugs. They churn out disposable syringes 24 hours a day, seven days a week, destined for use in Germany and more than 140 other countries around the world. One machine moulds high-quality plastic granules into thin.—AFP