Flu jabs to be postponed

Doctors across the country are having to postpone flu jabs for patients due to a shortage of the vaccine. Crucell, a global pharmaceutical company based in the Netherlands has stopped production due to “an unexpected test result.”

High risk patients, including the elderly and those with asthma, may have to wait until after the start of winter to be vaccinated.

Crucell, supplies 10% of the flu vaccine in the UK.  The company said, “Patient safety is our first concern. We have voluntarily halted all deliveries because of an unexpected test result on one of our batches. We want to investigate the cause before we release the vaccine.”

The Department of Health said: “We are aware of some unexpected delays to one supplier’s deliveries of the flu vaccine and advise GP practices to contact alternative suppliers if they are having problems.”