Malta is not affected by the recall of flu vaccines in Italy because they were never placed on the local market, according to the Parliamentary Secretariat for the Elderly.

The vaccine bought by the Government was not manufactured by the company that made the recalled vaccines and it passed through all the verifications required by the EU, it said.

There was no risk associated with the vaccine available in Malta, the parliamentary secretariat added, encouraging the public to take the vaccine.

Italy banned four anti-influenza vaccines produced by Novartis on Wednesday pending tests for possible side effects after small particles were found in some of the injections. The pharmaceutical company said the banned vaccines were safe, adding that it did not expect other countries to take similar action.