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By Rainer Buergin
Bloomberg
Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) — Germany aims to accept only half the Pandemrix swine flu vaccine doses it ordered from GlaxoSmithKline Plc because the disease has proven less severe than expected, the Health Ministry in the state of Thuringia said today.
The order of 50 million doses was based on the expectation that two shots per person would be required, which proved excessive given the progression of the disease, Deputy Health Minister Hartmut Schubert said today in comments confirmed by his press office.
Twenty-five million doses are enough to protect Germany’s population of more than 80 million people, said the ministry, which holds the rotating presidency of health ministries from the country’s 16 states. The state of Lower Saxony, which will take over on Jan. 1, will lead negotiations with GlaxoSmithKline on reducing the deliveries of the vaccine, it said.
Safety concerns and lower-than-expected death rates from pandemic influenza have damped demand for the vaccine in some European countries. More than 8,768 people worldwide have died from swine flu since it was first identified in Mexico and the U.S. in April, the World Health Organization said on Dec. 4.
About 20 million units of Pandemrix have been delivered to Germany and an estimated 6 million people have been immunized, according to the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute, located in Langen outside Frankfurt.