Flu vaccinations will resume in the second half of November, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne told journalists on Wednesday.

Fearne was asked for an update as to the latest developments regarding the next round of flu vaccines which are on order.

Fearne said that the government wanted to vaccinate 100,000 people first, which it did in the space of a week. The first batch of influenza vaccine was made available in Malta on 11th October. People with chronic illness, people aged over 55 and children under the age of 5 were given priority to receive the vaccine. It was used up in the space of a week. The next batch which is on order and is meant to be made available to the whole population. Concerns have been raised due to the length of time it is taking for this next batch to arrive.

Fearne said: "It is not wise to vaccinate the whole population at once due to herd immunity. The vaccine has a maximum time period in terms of its effectiveness, and over time its effectiveness drops. So it is important to keep the population's immunity high by vaccinating different people at different times between October and December."

"We want to vaccinate 100,000 more people between November and December," he said.

He said that last year 90,000 people were vaccinated, and that this year the number was already higher. He said that the government had 100,000 more on order, which it has increased to 150,000. In total (including the 100,000 already vaccinated) 250,000 people could be vaccinated for the flu this year, he said.

Asked when the next batch of vaccines will arrive, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the plan was for the end of November in order to spread out the time when the vaccine is given. "The plan is to start issuing the flu vaccinations again in the second half of November."

Video Giuseppe Attard