Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), a leading global medical technology company, has received pandemic orders for needles and syringes totaling more than 1 billion injection devices to support global COVID-19 vaccination planning efforts.

According to BD, this milestone reflects commitments from governments across the world, including the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the United Kingdom, among several others, as well as non-governmental organizations supporting vaccine deployment for developing countries.

Shipments are already underway and more than 300 million injection devices have been delivered around the world to date, with the remaining orders to be delivered between now and the end of 2021 to support vaccine administration. These devices are being shipped to governments or appointed distribution partners where they will then be distributed to health care facilities based on each country's individual distribution and allocation strategy.

BD has received pandemic orders for needles and syringes totaling more than 1 billion injection devices to support global COVID-19 vaccination.

BD continues to be in discussions with governments and non-governmental organizations on the need to place orders immediately for delivery later in calendar year 2021 and 2022.

"This milestone is more than just a number – it represents hundreds of millions of people around the world, such as frontline workers and at-risk loved ones who will now be able to receive a vaccination the moment vaccines are available," said Rick Byrd, president of Medication Delivery Solutions for BD.

The company continues to closely plan supply capabilities to ensure maximum volumes can be dedicated to COVID-19 efforts while minimizing disruption for routine health care and annual flu vaccination and childhood immunization programs.

In addition to supporting immediate efforts for COVID-19 vaccination readiness, BD is also working on multiple fronts to help ensure the global community is prepared for future pandemic vaccination efforts by:

• Partnering with the U.S. government on a $70 million capital project to further expand BD's operations and manufacturing capacity in Nebraska. The new capacity is expected to be online in summer 2021 and once completed, the federal government will have priority access to hundreds of millions of injection devices to support vaccination efforts for COVID-19 and future pandemics.

• Investing approximately $1.2 billion over a 4-year period to expand and upgrade manufacturing capacity and technology for pre-fillable syringes and advanced drug delivery systems to allow for continued growth of new injectable drugs and vaccines, but also provide surge capacity for increased pre-fillable syringe demand during times of pandemic response.

• Actively engaging with med-tech associations and research groups to address challenges, solutions and further innovation in support of a more sustainable future vaccine ecosystem.

In addition to ramping up manufacturing of needles and syringes, BD has been working closely with governments and multilateral organizations around the world to expand access to diagnostic testing and support treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The company has supplied health care providers globally with millions of products used in of the fight against COVID-19, including swabs for flu and COVID-19 testing, rapid molecular diagnostic tests on the BD MAX System, 15-minute point-of-care antigen testing on the BD Veritor Plus System, infusion pumps, infusion sets and catheters. BD Biosciences instruments are also being used by researchers around the world to better understand the human immune response to COVID-19.