Netherlands to sell surplus flu shots

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Netherlands to sell surplus flu shots

Published on 27 November 2009 - 7:56pm

The Dutch government is going to sell its surplus swine flu vaccine doses to countries who are experiencing acute shortages. Some two million doses will be sold.

They are no longer needed next month for the national vaccination drive.

Another 18 million doses may be sold in the first months of next year. The cabinet says it wants to help countries unable to inoculate all of their risk groups. Health Minister Ab Klink expects no other groups in the Netherlands need to be vaccinated.

The number of people to visit their general practitioner with flu complaints has begun dropping. Eight people, however, died of the A H1N1 virus last week. All of them had been suffering from other complaints by the time they contracted the flu.

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/netherlands-sell-surplus-flu-shots

 

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Re: Netherlands to sell surplus flu shots

27/07/2010

Netherlands destroying 17 million swine flu vaccine doses


The Netherlands is destroying more than 17 million unused doses of swine flu vaccine that were nearing their expiry date and that it could not resell, the health ministry said Tuesday.

"We have started destroying" the vaccines, health ministry spokeswoman Inge Freriksen told AFP. "In the coming months, 17.8 million doses will be destroyed because the expiry date is approaching."

The Dutch government bought 31 million doses of vaccine against the A(H1N1) virus at the height of the global swine flu outbreak last year. About 11 million were used.

Some 2,156 people infected with swine flu were hospitalised in the Netherlands between April and December last year and 53 died.

In November the Dutch goverment said it was putting 19 million doses on sale to other countries, but managed to offload only 257,000.

The government will keep 2.2 million doses with a later expiry date "in case the virus returns in one form or another", Freriksen said.

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http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/loc...17-million-swine-flu-vaccine-doses_86167.html