Romania, seventh country in Europe and 11th in the world to produce its own pandemic vaccine. Public Ministry halts activity as one employee is suspected of having the new flu. 211 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of A/H1

The first doses of A/H1N1 pandemic vaccine manufactured by Cantacuzino Institute were shipped yesterday to outbreak areas, under high security, as the total number of cases in the country reached 2,666.

A total of 250,000 vaccine doses were delivered to Bucharest and Moldavia, the areas with the highest number of new flu cases, Health Secretary State Secretary Raed Arafat said. The vaccine doses were loaded in frigorific boxes and sent to destination guarded by gendarmes, he said. The first categories to have the shot are medical staff, students and military staff, under a decision of the Health Ministry earlier this week. The first vaccine shipment left for Suceava, under police and gendarme security.

Health Ministry officials said that the vaccination is not mandatory, but called for public responsibility and advised in favour of immunization. Romania is the seventh country in Europe and the eleventh in the world to have developed its own pandemic vaccine, the head of the Cantacuzino Institute’s National Flu Reference Centre, Viorel Alexandrescu, said yesterday. “Vaccination can start on Friday if local Public Health Departments get the doses in time, but it will certain start all over the country on Monday,” he said, adding that an additional one million doses will be sent to other parts of the country next week.

By the end of the year, authorities expect to produce five more million doses, so as to begin a vaccination campaign for children as of January next year.

During the press conference in which Cantacuzino officials showed samples of the vaccine to the press, one of the 50 samples went missing, Mediafax said. Health Ministry officials said neither the missing dose nor the other 49 left in the box showed to the press was any good, because they had not been kept at the required temperature and had lost their properties.

Meanwhile, the total number of new flu cases in Romania reached 2,666, with 211 cases reported in 24 hours. The rapid spread of the virus has already prompted authorities to close down several schools and institutions. Yesterday, the Public Ministry decided to suspend its activity for a while, as one prosecutor is believed to be infected with A/H1N1, Mediafax reported. Also yesterday, a pregnant woman in Oradea was hospitalized in severe condition, being suspected of new flu infection. Blood samples taken from the patient were sent to Cantacuzino Institute for confirmation.

Moreover, a high school in Buzau was closed yesterday, after three students were diagnosed with the new flu and other three and a teacher are suspected of having caught the virus. Several other schools in the country and in Bucharest, including Jean Monnet High School and Nicolae Iorga High School were closed for the same reasons and were scheduled to undergo disinfection.