HK$222m of swine flu jabs burned

Swine flu vaccine worth HK$222 million was destroyed by the government last month after it expired.

Three million doses of vaccine were bought in late 2009 in the face of the global swine flu pandemic, but fewer than 200,000 doses were used.

The remaining doses, which expired last September and October, were collected in December and incinerated on January 8, costing another HK$11,470.

The figures were revealed in a written reply by Secretary for Food and Health Dr York Chow Yat-ngok to the Legislative Council yesterday.

In November 2009, the government bought three million doses of the vaccine at HK$79 each from the French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis.

It was specified in the tender that unused vaccine would not be refunded. The government hoped the vaccine could protect two million people in high-risk groups, including the elderly, young children, pregnant women, chronically ill patients, medical staff and pig farm workers.

But the vaccine was linked to miscarriages and also Guillain-Barre syndrome, a progressive weakening of the muscles which affects patients' limbs. Although the government maintained there was no proof the swine flu vaccine caused these conditions, public confidence dropped and the take-up rate waned.