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Saudi- MoH allays vaccine fears says influenza shots 'perfectly safe'
(MENAFN- Arab News) The Assistant Health Minister for Preventive Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Aseeri said that the influenza shots which the Kingdom has secured to contain the viral infection this winter season are perfectly safe.
His comments came in response to concerns raised about the safety of these vaccines in the wake of recent reports from Italy regarding the vaccine.
Press reports last week reported that Italy has partially banned the influenza vaccine Fluad manufactured by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis. The decision came following the mysterious death of three people who had been injected with the vaccine.
However Novartis said in a statement that it had not yet established whether the vaccine had caused the deaths.
'Regarding the precautionary suspension of two batches of Fluad in Italy Novartis underlines that no causal relationship to the vaccine has been established to date' the company said.
It added that Fluad is approved for vaccination in elderly patients (65+) and often prescribed to patients who suffer from pre-existing underlying medical conditions and have a weaker immune system.
'Serious medical events and deaths are unfortunately quite common in this patient population and hence a coincidental timely association with vaccination is not unusual' it observed.
Novartis said that the two suspended batches comprising of 500000 doses were distributed solely in Italy after having passed all the required safety and quality testing procedures including a review by regulatory authorities before being released into the market.
'More than 7 million doses of Fluad have been distributed worldwide and no unusual frequency of adverse events has been reported through the extensive pharmacovigilance system' it said.
In light of the above reports Al-Aseeri confirmed that the vaccine is safe because 'we secured it from a different source and not from the Italian company which banned it.'
Dr. Al-Aseeri stressed that the Ministry of Health is very concerned about the safety of the citizens and residents of the Kingdom.
He said that the ministry was monitoring such news very closely and constantly checking on the vaccines being used. He added that medicines on pharmaceutical shelves and in stock in both the government and private health care facilities were also checked on a regular basis to confirm their validity.
His comments came in response to concerns raised about the safety of these vaccines in the wake of recent reports from Italy regarding the vaccine.
Press reports last week reported that Italy has partially banned the influenza vaccine Fluad manufactured by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis. The decision came following the mysterious death of three people who had been injected with the vaccine.
However Novartis said in a statement that it had not yet established whether the vaccine had caused the deaths.
'Regarding the precautionary suspension of two batches of Fluad in Italy Novartis underlines that no causal relationship to the vaccine has been established to date' the company said.
It added that Fluad is approved for vaccination in elderly patients (65+) and often prescribed to patients who suffer from pre-existing underlying medical conditions and have a weaker immune system.
'Serious medical events and deaths are unfortunately quite common in this patient population and hence a coincidental timely association with vaccination is not unusual' it observed.
Novartis said that the two suspended batches comprising of 500000 doses were distributed solely in Italy after having passed all the required safety and quality testing procedures including a review by regulatory authorities before being released into the market.
'More than 7 million doses of Fluad have been distributed worldwide and no unusual frequency of adverse events has been reported through the extensive pharmacovigilance system' it said.
In light of the above reports Al-Aseeri confirmed that the vaccine is safe because 'we secured it from a different source and not from the Italian company which banned it.'
Dr. Al-Aseeri stressed that the Ministry of Health is very concerned about the safety of the citizens and residents of the Kingdom.
He said that the ministry was monitoring such news very closely and constantly checking on the vaccines being used. He added that medicines on pharmaceutical shelves and in stock in both the government and private health care facilities were also checked on a regular basis to confirm their validity.
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