Government wants fewer swine flu vaccines than initially planned

The Czech Republic’s Security Council has asked the health minister, Dana Jurásková, to see if the authorities can only receive part of one million swine flu vaccines they originally ordered. However, the minister said on Thursday that the government would not change its vaccination strategy, which involves distributing some 700,000 vaccines to the seriously ill, health care workers and selected officials.

The minister told the daily Právo that the council agreed to negotiate with the vaccine’s producer, GlaxonSmithKline, at its session last week. As the contract between the pharmaceutical and the Czech state does not provide for such an option, an appendix to the contract would have to be negotiated, a spokesman for the ministry said.