Baxter not to provide anti-swine flu vaccine to Czechs

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/tema/zpravy/baxter-not-to-provide-anti-swine-flu-vaccine-to-czechs/391210

Prague - The U.S. pharmaceutical firm Baxter which manufactures a vaccine against the swine flu in its Czech branch will not ensure the vaccine for the Czech Republic in the case of a pandemic, Baxter media representative Jana Cechova told CTK today.

The Czech Republic has relied on the factory in Bohumil, Central Bohemia.
In its original pandemic plan, the Czech Republic reckoned with vaccines for 60 percent of the population, while the updated plan involves vaccines for 25 percent and the Tamiflu and Relenza antivirotics for the same number.

"No contract for the delivery of the vaccines A(H1N1) between Baxter and the Czech Republic has been concluded," Cechova said.

The server tn.cz writes that the Czech Health Ministry has explained its stopping the talks with Baxter by the firm's inability to guarantee that the vaccine is safe and who will bear the risks for possible side-effects.

"It is a pity, but, unfortunately, at the moment when we accepted the bids, Baxter was unable to confirm that it will deliver a registered vaccine," Health Minister Dana Juraskova said.

Over 60 Czechs have caught the swine flu, but no fatality has been registered.