Should syringes be thrown or destroyed after vaccination, infected people speak

The Inoculation Process Against COVID-19, in Kosovo, started 29 March with vaccines from the British company AstraZeneca. So far, health workers have been vaccinated, and on Friday day has started vaccinating people over 85 years of age.

Ramadan: Medical waste can spread the virus

Infectian Hamdi Ramadani says that the management of waste from the vaccine should be treated professionally, in contrast, the possibility of spreading the coronary.

That material should be eliminated immediately because syringes can be contaminated, dangerous to citizens and the environment. Despite the fact that COVID-19 is aired, but even in syringes the virus can stay for a certain time and contact with them creates the possibility of spreading the virus”, Ramadan notes.

Meanwhile, Luan Hasanaj from the organisation “to clear Kosovo”, which deals with conservation and environmental protection, says safe treatment of infectious waste is a disturbing problem. It for Radio Free Europe says some of the medical waste may be destroyed at the University Clinical Centre in Kosovo(QKUK), but in other municipalities, all these remains end up in the regional waste depot.

So, they jump without any control, there is no system that handles these remains throughout the country. Now, when the vaccine started, and when the number of vaccines increased, there will be hundreds of thousands of waste and seeing that there's a system of their treatment missing, this will become a big problem. This puts citizens at great risk”, Hasanaj said.

In addition to medical waste in the areas of health centres, Hasanaj stresses that in Kosovo there is an enamel pollution of the environment from the use of masks, gloves, disinfectant bottles and other personal safety devices, which are disposed of by irresponsible citizens.

Bektash: Medical materials, to be destroyed

Agron Bektash, former director of the Regional Environment Centre (REC), also said that the remains of medical products and materials used during the vaccination process should be treated and destroyed carefully added so that citizens' health can be maintained.

“should have certain methods of how to eliminate citizens' health. The best practices so far, which have been for the destruction of waste or medical waste, are the small plants that are built within hospitals or abroad, where their annihilation is done at high temperatures and with a slight impact on air”, Bektas said.

Institutions unprepared for Waste Treatment

Health institutions are not adequately prepared for the management of these remains, says Hasanaj from the organisation “to clean Kosovo”.

The “are not prepared. There's no plant that needs to be destroyed. In addition to the vaccine, in any location that this process takes place, it would have to be equipped with equipment that deals with the annihilation of waste. And the information is this isn't for now. No regional hospital owns such an facility. Not only syringes, ampulats, but each medical remnant is dangerous to the health of citizens and is not treated at all”, he points out.

Krasniqi: QKUK presents professional treatment

But, at the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo (QKUK), all medical remains are treated in the facility for the treatment of medical, environmental waste available within the KKUK.

Mehdi Krasniqi, chief of the KKUK technical services sector, shows the issue is extremely well organised. These remains, he says, are treated through the relevant device, and then through steam up to 180 degrees Fahrenheit [180 ° C], they become sterilization.

“What is medical material is treated, except drugs. We have an implant and within it, there are two steroids that make waste treatment. In addition, we also have a warehouse, where there is a special refrigerator, where these types of materials are stored within the day or the week, and they are occasionally introduced into treatment. Thus, the conditions for handling these remains meet every standard. At QKUK, between 900 and 1,200kg of medical waste is treated within the day”, Krasniqi points out.

Infectious waste is recycled

Waste management from vaccine against COVID-19, is regulated based on the state vaccine plan against COVID-19. Of the total waste rate, of 10 to 15 percent, are said to be infectious wastes, requiring particular attention to their recycling or eventual annihilation.

The non-infective waste balance balance can be placed into municipal deposit if managed properly. As for the safe treatment of infectious waste and their annihilation, the Plan reportedly has planned and budgeted for waste disposal, national capacity building, sharing, treatment, transport and extermination, or proper recycling of waste.

The plan reportedly says Kosovo will explore possibilities for throwing infectious waste into industrial departments for cement production or for turning waste into energy, etc.