Moldova able to vaccinate 'half of population' against swine flu

Health Minister Vladimir Hotineanu told a meeting of the national extraordinary commission for public health on Friday the Moldovan government will be able to vaccinate “practically half of the population” against the pandemic flu, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Next week or immediately after New Year the latest, Romania will provide the remaining 350,000 shots (of the total of 500,000) of the vaccine, and in February the World Health Organization will provide another 950,000 doses”, said the minister, advising the population to stop fearing the vaccination and get protected before facing another wave of swine flu outbreak, which is expected in the months of February through April. A total number of 2,381 cases of swine flu infections have been registered this year in Moldova, including 16 fatal cases, with the latest being recorded on December 14, deputy health minister Mihai Magdei reported, adding that the situation has stabilized as the number of cases this week dropped slightly from the previous week. “We hope the vaccination campaign that started this week will further improve the situation”, he said.