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| Swine flu vaccine talks under way | |
| (11 minutes later) | |
| The government is making plans to offload millions of doses of swine flu vaccine amid predictions a "third wave" of the pandemic is unlikely to happen. | The government is making plans to offload millions of doses of swine flu vaccine amid predictions a "third wave" of the pandemic is unlikely to happen. |
| Officials are in discussion with manufacturer GSK over contracts for remaining doses purchased by the UK. | Officials are in discussion with manufacturer GSK over contracts for remaining doses purchased by the UK. |
| Options include selling surplus vaccine and donating it to poorer countries but a stockpile will remain in place. | Options include selling surplus vaccine and donating it to poorer countries but a stockpile will remain in place. |
| Cases of swine flu have now dropped dramatically to well below what is usually seen in winter flu outbreaks. | Cases of swine flu have now dropped dramatically to well below what is usually seen in winter flu outbreaks. |
| Last week France announced it was selling millions of doses of swine flu vaccine after finding they had more than enough to cope with the outbreak. | Last week France announced it was selling millions of doses of swine flu vaccine after finding they had more than enough to cope with the outbreak. |
| The UK bought 60m doses of swine flu vaccine from GSK and 30 million from Baxter but the smaller contract had a break clause should the doses not be needed. | The UK bought 60m doses of swine flu vaccine from GSK and 30 million from Baxter but the smaller contract had a break clause should the doses not be needed. |
| To date 23.9m doses of GSK vaccine have been delivered for immunisation of priority groups in the UK as well as 5m Baxter vaccines. | To date 23.9m doses of GSK vaccine have been delivered for immunisation of priority groups in the UK as well as 5m Baxter vaccines. |
| Discussions | |
| Government immunisation lead Professor David Salisbury said: "We are in discussion with GSK about future supplies of the vaccine. | |
| "We have to keep a stockpile for ourselves anyway because we don't know what's going to happen in 2010. | |
| "If there was a resurgence we would look very foolish if we had disposed of a valuable stockpile." | |
| He added that it remains important for high-risk groups, such as those with underlying illness and the under fives to be immunised as they are more likely to have severe complications. | |
| Although the number of cases of swine flu has fallen to a low of below 5,000 in England in the past week, the number of people in hospital after being infected has not dropped to the same extent. | |
| There has also been a striking increase in critical care admissions in the over 65s who make up a quarter of the 103 patients currently taking up intensive care beds. | |
| This could partly be due to the cold weather but the reason is not yet entirely clear. | |
| Since swine flu was first reported in April 2009 there have been 360 deaths across the UK - 251 in England, 28 in Wales, 64 in Scotland and 17 in Northern Ireland - mostly in people with underlying health conditions. |