OZschwitz flu vaccine to be thrown out at a cost of $100 million

AUSTRALIA'S remaining stock of swine flu vaccine will expire soon and will have to be thrown out, at a cost of $100 million.

At the height of last year's pandemic, the federal government spent almost $200 million buying 21 million doses of Panvax H1N1.

Just under half was distributed to doctors, with fewer actually used on patients. That leaves 3.8 million doses to be donated to the World Health Organisation and 7.8 million doses to be destroyed.
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A Health Department spokeswoman said the first batch of vaccine began to expire in October and the entire stock would expire by December 31. Expired vaccine will be disposed of as medical waste.

Opposition Health spokesman Peter Dutton said the destroyed stocks represented huge waste.

''This is yet another rounding issue for this government,'' he said. ''The Gillard government just can't get the detail right. They have overreacted to a number of key issues and their response to this issue is going to cost taxpayers tens of millions.

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OZschwitz flu vaccine to be thrown out at a cost of $100 million

OZschwitz flu vaccine to be thrown out at a cost of $100 million

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