Swine flu vaccine

Health authorities are this week expected to decide whether children will be given one or two doses of the swine flu jab, The Times has learnt.

"We will be meeting this week to take a decision," health director general Ray Busuttil said.

Initially, it was believed children would need two doses of the vaccine against the influenza that is causing a global pandemic. But new evidence is showing one dose could be enough.

In fact, the UK decided in December to give only one dose amid fears a second could lead to high temperature.

Although children under 10 are being vaccinated with half the dose given to adults and older children, it still provides enough immunity.

According to Dr Busuttil, local experts are still analysing the evidence before deciding whether to go for a one- or two-dose approach.

"We will take a decision based on the evidence," he said.

Dr Busuttil said the second dose of the vaccine had to be taken at least three weeks after the first, and there was therefore no rush to decide on the approach.

The first batch of jabs arrived in Malta at the end of December and was used to vaccinate health care workers, pregnant women and people suffering from chronic diseases.

The second batch arrived last week and last Thursday the government opened vaccination for the rest of the population.

Just over 63,500 people were vaccinated by Sunday, figures from the Community Care Parliamentary Secretariat show. But this is below authorities' expectations.

"I was hoping for a better uptake," Dr Busuttil said, although he would not be drawn into saying what the reason for the lower than expected uptake was.

"There might be a number of factors that might be influencing people but I do not know what these are," he said.

The World Health Organisation recently came under fire for declaring a pandemic which has enabled drug companies to rake in millions following the worldwide scare.

Council of Europe health section head Wolfgang Wodarg said pharmaceutical firms made enormous gains while countries squandered their health budgets to vaccinate millions of people against a relatively mild disease.

But the WHO has defended the way it handled the pandemic and its flu expert, Kenji Fukuda, denied there had been improper influence from drug firms.