Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea reiterated today that the H1N1 swine flu vaccine will not be administered in Malta before it is declared safe by the World Health Organisation.

The Times reported on Thursday that the issue was discussed by Cabinet, which decided not to compromise vaccine safety.

Mr Galea said today that a safety certified vaccine is expected to be issued in January and Malta has placed an order for 500,000 doses.

A vaccine without a safety profile is expected in October, but Mr Galea said Malta wanted to be assured of side-effects and other consequences. While Malta was keeping its options open, the decision was to await the safety profile, especially as the H1N1 virus was mild, Mr Galea said.

In the meantime, people considered mostly at risk of complications will still get the antiviral Tamiflu.

Plans by a number of European governments to fast-track the testing of a vaccine against the influenza have raised concerns among experts about its safety. The WHO's flu chief, Keiji Fukuda, has warned about the potential dangers of untested vaccines.

The Director-General of Health, Ray Busuttil said Malta had so far had 168 H1N1 confirmed cases and 115 patients had recovered. He did not exclude that more people had the virus since only people who are in the 'at risk category' are tested.

He said the authorities did not see a need to keep schools closed in September but sick children should be kept at home.

Dr Busuttil said he was urging the people to take the ordinary flu vaccine in October.