The government ordered 20,000 extra vaccines to combat this year’s flu season, which has seen a rise in cases due to colder weather and the emergence of Inflluenza A in Europe.
This comes after concerns were raised that some pharmacies were out of stock of effective flu vaccinations.
Last week, the government had also announced that 16 out of every 100 individuals visiting a family doctor are suffering from influenza.
“The flu vaccine is available free of charge to all persons above the age of six months from all health centres,” a spokesperson from the Ministry for Health said.
“Stock is still available.”
In October, Malta's health authorities used statistical models to warn the public that they predicted that the influenza season would be more widespread, and the most predominant strain of the virus would be the Influenza A virus the H3N2, more commonly known as the Aussie flu, after the strain had a particularly strong presence in Australia.
Health Minister Chris Fearne had also warned Parliament last October, that according to the scientific evidence from the southern hemisphere, the flu could potentially affect 250,000 people, up almost double from the previous year.
At the time, the Maltese Health Department took a number of precautionary measures, including the ordering of 100,000 phials of vaccine, after 70,000 vaccinations were administered last year.
The Superintendent for Public Health, Dr Charmaine Gauci, has told the media during this period that the Influenza B strain will affect most patients, which is typically more common.
Australia and New Zealand saw a significant number of notifications of the illness at the beginning of the season and at its peak, there were 2.1 and 1.5 times more cases than the previous five-year average. The more virulent H3N2 strain (Influenza A) has been the most dominant, with 69 per cent of cases, with a 31 per cent incidence of Influenza B.
According to officials from the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS), the latest strain has also created extreme seasonal pressure on the British healthcare system. With many hospitals operating at or near full capacity, the NHS has decided to postpone a number of non-urgent procedures in order to free up staff and beds for emergency patients.