The Malta Independent on Sunday
Government making ‘political excuses’ to cover up out of stock flu vaccine – MUMN President
The government is making ‘political excuses’ to cover up the fact that the second batch of the flu vaccine, which was meant to be available by 1 November, has failed to arrive on time, according to the president of the nurses’ union.
This comes following comments by Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne when he was asked by journalists on Wednesday for an update on the next round of flu vaccines.
Fearne said that the govrernment wanted to vaccinate 100,000 people first, which it did in the space of a week. Following concerns raised due to the length of time it is taking for the second batch to arrive, Fearne explained that, “it is not wise to vaccinate the whole population at once due to herd immunity. The vaccine has a maximum time period in terms of its effectiveness, and over time its effectiveness drops. So it is important to keep the population’s immunity high by vaccinating different people at different times between October and December.”
The government is planning to vaccinate a 100,000 more people between November and December.
The Malta Independent on Sunday spoke to the president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN), Paul Pace, and the president of the Medical Association of Malta (MAM), to get a better understanding of how the process of herd immunity works.
Pace said, “this argument has never been made in previous years as every year we vaccinate the entire population at one go.”
“Herd immunity has nothing to do with this and this is simply a cover up because the whole point of vaccinating people as early as possible is to avoid people from getting sick in the coming winter months,” he said.
The first 100,000-dose batch of the seasonal flu vaccine arrived on 11 October, with people over 55, children under the age of 5 and people with chronic conditions given priority.
The stock was immediately used up and another 150,000 units were expected to arrive in Malta after a few days, however, this has not yet happened.
Pace explained that herd immunity usually occurs when a large amount of people within a community become immune to a disease by producing antibodies, thus making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. Therefore, herd immunity would only be relevant if people are sick.
With regard to the vaccine, one would refer to it as artifical immunity, which is a means by which the body is given immunity to a disease and comes in the form of vaccinations, he said.
Pace remarked that, “scientifically, the Health Minister did not know what he was saying.”
“This is an unfair situation where some people managed to get the vaccine and others do not just because its out of stock. It should be given to everyone at one go so that everyone is protected.”
He added that, “these are all lies to cover up the fact that the government did not bring in enough vaccines for everyone.”
MAM President Martin Balzan remarked that, “what the Health Minister is saying is not backed up by WHO recommendations.”
The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on the seasonal Influenza Vaccination states that, “due to envisaged influenza vaccine supply shortages, which may extend to the 2021-2022 influenza season, the ability to procure influenza vaccines, especially for countries which have no established influenza programme in place, may be challenging. As such, governments, especially those of low and middle-income countries, are encouraged to promote and strengthen efforts for sustainable supply or production of influenza vaccines.”
Balzan said that, “these documents only set priority groups if a government is unable to procure the adequate supplies, which seems to be the case in Malta.”
During the Coronavirus weekly briefing on Friday, Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci was unable to indicate when the second batch of influenza vaccines is expected to arrive, while Health Minister Fearne confirmed that flu vaccinations are planned to resume in the second half of November.