Money wasted as H1N1 vaccines over ordered

CYPRUS ordered 400,000 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine for €3.2 million but used only 23,000 as people realised the virus was not as serious as first thought, it emerged yesterday.

According to the auditor-general’s report, Cyprus signed an agreement with a pharmaceutical company for the procurement of the doses in August 2009.

It was the time when the World Health Organisation declared a pandemic, sending countries scrambling for vaccines, fearing the worst.

By February of this year, Cyprus took delivery of 200,000 doses, paying €1.7 million but it later transpired that additional quantities would not be necessary.

Only around 18,000 people were inoculated – with 23,500 doses – as it quickly became obvious that the flu was not as serious as previously thought.

The remaining vaccines are in the health ministry’s warehouses along with €1.3 million worth of flu medicines purchased in the same period to tackle the flu.

The government entered negotiations with the manufacturer to cancel and or replace the quantity that had not been delivered.

The company proposed to cancel 32 per cent of the contract concerning the vaccines and replace the rest with other medicines.

The government’s decision is still pending.