€25m swine flu vaccine cancelled pending review

THE Government has cancelled an order for the swine flu vaccine valued at €25 million as pressure mounts on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to review its handling of the pandemic.

Yesterday Health Minister Mary Harney confirmed they would not be proceeding with the order placed with Baxter Healthcare.

“Clearly in light of changing circumstances we will not be proceeding with the order,” the minister said, speaking on RTÉ radio.

She also said the ongoing mass vaccination programme was under review. A spokesperson for the Department of Health said there was no change in the policy of mass vaccination, but that if the numbers attending clinics to avail of vaccination dropped off significantly, they would look at closing some of the clinics.

“We are reviewing the uptake on a continuous basis and if it is lower than expected, we will maximise resources by concentrating on a smaller number of clinics,” the spokesperson said.

However, she said they were continuing to urge at-risk categories – those with underlying illnesses, the elderly and the very young – to avail of the vaccine before February 1.

Yesterday Ms Harney was asked on RTÉ’s News at One if the swine flu had been a “big unnecessary scare” that proved costly.

“I can tell you if we didn’t order the vaccine and had over 20 deaths (22 people have died to date), you’d be asking why we didn’t get the vaccine,” the minister replied, adding that the Government couldn’t be complacent. She also warned that a second wave of the pandemic could occur.

The minister seemed to indicate that the entire vaccination programme was under review, saying: “If it’s not necessary, we won’t proceed with it,” but a spokesperson for the department said the numbers attending clinics was under review, and not the programme itself.

Earlier this week, a number of European politicians called for an inquiry into what they termed a “false pandemic”.

For information on vaccinations, contact the HSE on 1850 24 1850.