Winter flu jabs under threat

The winter flu jab campaign is under threat today as a factory making millions of doses of vaccine was ordered to halt production.

Chiron supplies almost 20 per cent of NHS flu vaccines and has captured almost half of the market in the United States.

Problems at the plant first emerged in August when the company admitted that vaccine deliveries would be delayed because some batches did not meet "sterility requirements".

NHS chiefs insisted they had managed to find alternative suppliers so that all of the 14 million people hoping to have jabs, mostly the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, would be treated.

But GPs warned that in the event of delays the most frail would have to be treated first, sending fitter patients to the back of the queue.

And there were doubts over whether all private patients would be able to find supplies of the vaccine. In America the problems were more severe. Federal health officials declared the start of a "voluntary rationing" scheme with a plea to healthy individuals not to have the vaccine. Doctors in the US said there would be a shortfall of up to 46 million in the number of flu jab doses available.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the British body which imposed the ban, refused to give more details, claiming commercial confidentiality. Howard Pien, president and chief executive officer of Chiron Corporation, said the firm "deeply regrets that we will be unable to meet public health needs this season".

Chiron said it had hoped that the watchdog would have completed a review of the plant in time to allow the vaccine to be distributed later this month. The company added: "The MHRA has asserted that Chiron's manufacturing process does not comply with UK good manufacturing process regulations. Chiron has initiated discussions with the MHRA to determine appropriate corrective action."

The Liverpool plant was owned until last year by Powderject, the company headed by Labour donor Paul Drayson.

Flu kills at least 3,000 people in Britain every winter.