Limited H1N1 vaccine supply now available

The Community Pharmacy Sector (CPS) of the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa (PSSA) has announced that a limited supply of H1N1 vaccine has been made available through community pharmacies.

As explained in the PSSA announcement, the vaccine had been unavailable due to the low yield of one of the three strains of virus – including the influenza A H1N1 – used in the production of vaccine.

It was also noted that the National Department of Health recently embarked on a country-wide influenza vaccination campaign to reduce the impact of the influenza pandemic. It was possible to obtain additional supplies of a monovalent vaccine that contains only the influenza A H1N1 strain. A limited number of doses had now been made available to community pharmacies, the PSSA added.