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From The Times
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January 9, 2010
Unused swine flu vaccine could cost NHS millions
David Rose, Health Correspondent
The number of people coming down with swine flu has fallen so low that the Government is to give away or sell its excess supplies of vaccine, at a potential cost to the NHS of millions of pounds.
Officials are in discussion with manufacturers on how to dispose of more than 60 million doses of vaccine, amid predictions that a ?third wave? of the pandemic is unlikely this year.
Ministers had previously signed deals worth an estimated ?155 million with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Baxter for enough vaccine to protect the entire population during a pandemic, but cases of swine flu have now dropped to well below the level of flu cases expected in a typical winter.
Fewer than 5,000 people in England became ill with the H1N1 virus last week, according to the latest estimates, down from an estimated 9,000 a week in mid-December and far lower than the 100,000 weekly cases that were recorded at the height of the pandemic in July. But the death toll from the virus has risen, with hundreds of people still requiring hospital treatment after becoming infected.
Those who have already been vaccinated in Britain include 373,000 frontline health workers, 113,000 pregnant women and 3.3 million people in priority groups, such as those with asthma, diabetes and heart disease. A further 86,000 healthy children under 5, who were the next phase of the campaign, have also received a jab.
The Government continues to advise that priority groups should be vaccinated, but officials said yesterday that the vaccination campaign was unlikely to be extended to the general population, leaving large amounts of vaccine unused.
About 60 million doses of swine flu vaccine had been ordered from GSK and 30 million from Baxter, but so far only 23.9 million doses of GSK vaccine have been delivered for immunisation of priority groups, as well as 5 million Baxter vaccines.
David Salisbury, director of immunisations at the Department of Health, said that a ?break clause? had been activated in the Baxter contract preventing delivery of further supplies. But he added that negotiations were necessary to work out how excess supplies of GSK?s vaccine, Pandemrix, could be sold or donated to other countries.
?We are in discussion with GSK about future supplies of the vaccine,? Professor Salisbury said. ?We have to keep a stockpile for ourselves anyway because we don?t know what?s going to happen in 2010. If there was a resurgence we would look very foolish if we had disposed of a valuable stockpile.?
The announcement comes after France and Germany decided to sell millions of doses of swine flu vaccine on finding that they had more than enough to cope with the outbreak ? in contrast to the United States and Canada, where supplies have been scarce compared with demand.
One option being considered for the excess orders is that key ingredients from swine flu vaccine ? such as the adjuvant, which boosts the action of the jab ? could be removed and reused in future vaccines for seasonal flu, which are ordered by the Government every year.
Any decision to sell, give away or recycle large amounts of vaccine is likely to leave the Department of Health out of pocket, but Professor Salisbury refused to go into detail about the exact value of contracts or supplies that might be affected, citing commercial confidentiality.
The H1N1 virus emerged in Britain last April but, despite predictions that swine flu could cause 65,000 deaths this winter, the illness has been much milder than feared and experts now suggest that there will not be a third wave of cases after peaks last summer and autumn.
Figures from the Department of Health suggest that in total it will have spent more than ?1 billion on drugs and vaccines for swine flu by the end of the pandemic, but Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer for England, added that the full costs would not be calculated until a later date.
He added that he could not rule out another spate of cases or a rise in illness due to seasonal forms of flu.
A total of 360 people have now died after contracting the disease in the UK, comprising 251 in England, 28 in Wales, 64 in Scotland and 17 in Northern Ireland. This represents a sharp increase from the figure of 298 deaths announced on December 17.
But Sir Liam said that this did not mean the virus was getting worse. ?I don?t think you can read into the apparently larger increase any particular trend or worsening of the situation,? he said. ?It is just that we are still continuing to see deaths broadly at the rate we have been seeing them.?
He added that there had been a ?striking increase? in the number of over-65s being admitted to critical care in hospital.
Ian Dalton, the national director of NHS Flu Resilience, said that prescription collection points for antiviral medications such as Tamiflu had remained open over Christmas and new year ? and 350 people collected antiviral medication on Christmas Day.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6981545.ece
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arameter parameter="dart.server" /--><!-- END: Module - Advert:Top -->January 9, 2010
Unused swine flu vaccine could cost NHS millions
David Rose, Health Correspondent
The number of people coming down with swine flu has fallen so low that the Government is to give away or sell its excess supplies of vaccine, at a potential cost to the NHS of millions of pounds.
Officials are in discussion with manufacturers on how to dispose of more than 60 million doses of vaccine, amid predictions that a ?third wave? of the pandemic is unlikely this year.
Ministers had previously signed deals worth an estimated ?155 million with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Baxter for enough vaccine to protect the entire population during a pandemic, but cases of swine flu have now dropped to well below the level of flu cases expected in a typical winter.
Fewer than 5,000 people in England became ill with the H1N1 virus last week, according to the latest estimates, down from an estimated 9,000 a week in mid-December and far lower than the 100,000 weekly cases that were recorded at the height of the pandemic in July. But the death toll from the virus has risen, with hundreds of people still requiring hospital treatment after becoming infected.
Those who have already been vaccinated in Britain include 373,000 frontline health workers, 113,000 pregnant women and 3.3 million people in priority groups, such as those with asthma, diabetes and heart disease. A further 86,000 healthy children under 5, who were the next phase of the campaign, have also received a jab.
The Government continues to advise that priority groups should be vaccinated, but officials said yesterday that the vaccination campaign was unlikely to be extended to the general population, leaving large amounts of vaccine unused.
About 60 million doses of swine flu vaccine had been ordered from GSK and 30 million from Baxter, but so far only 23.9 million doses of GSK vaccine have been delivered for immunisation of priority groups, as well as 5 million Baxter vaccines.
David Salisbury, director of immunisations at the Department of Health, said that a ?break clause? had been activated in the Baxter contract preventing delivery of further supplies. But he added that negotiations were necessary to work out how excess supplies of GSK?s vaccine, Pandemrix, could be sold or donated to other countries.
?We are in discussion with GSK about future supplies of the vaccine,? Professor Salisbury said. ?We have to keep a stockpile for ourselves anyway because we don?t know what?s going to happen in 2010. If there was a resurgence we would look very foolish if we had disposed of a valuable stockpile.?
The announcement comes after France and Germany decided to sell millions of doses of swine flu vaccine on finding that they had more than enough to cope with the outbreak ? in contrast to the United States and Canada, where supplies have been scarce compared with demand.
One option being considered for the excess orders is that key ingredients from swine flu vaccine ? such as the adjuvant, which boosts the action of the jab ? could be removed and reused in future vaccines for seasonal flu, which are ordered by the Government every year.
Any decision to sell, give away or recycle large amounts of vaccine is likely to leave the Department of Health out of pocket, but Professor Salisbury refused to go into detail about the exact value of contracts or supplies that might be affected, citing commercial confidentiality.
The H1N1 virus emerged in Britain last April but, despite predictions that swine flu could cause 65,000 deaths this winter, the illness has been much milder than feared and experts now suggest that there will not be a third wave of cases after peaks last summer and autumn.
Figures from the Department of Health suggest that in total it will have spent more than ?1 billion on drugs and vaccines for swine flu by the end of the pandemic, but Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer for England, added that the full costs would not be calculated until a later date.
He added that he could not rule out another spate of cases or a rise in illness due to seasonal forms of flu.
A total of 360 people have now died after contracting the disease in the UK, comprising 251 in England, 28 in Wales, 64 in Scotland and 17 in Northern Ireland. This represents a sharp increase from the figure of 298 deaths announced on December 17.
But Sir Liam said that this did not mean the virus was getting worse. ?I don?t think you can read into the apparently larger increase any particular trend or worsening of the situation,? he said. ?It is just that we are still continuing to see deaths broadly at the rate we have been seeing them.?
He added that there had been a ?striking increase? in the number of over-65s being admitted to critical care in hospital.
Ian Dalton, the national director of NHS Flu Resilience, said that prescription collection points for antiviral medications such as Tamiflu had remained open over Christmas and new year ? and 350 people collected antiviral medication on Christmas Day.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6981545.ece
