France cancels 50 million flu shot orders

France has cancelled over half the flu vaccines it ordered to combat the H1N1 flu virus, Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said on Monday, in an effort to head off criticism after reserving too many shots.

France ordered the vaccinations from Sanofi-Pasteur, a unit of Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Baxter International. The government estimated 94 million individual shots were needed, and ordered them at a cost of 869 million euros ($1.25 billion), thinking that everyone would need two jabs for immunity against the illness.

Doctors now say a single vaccination is sufficient, meaning that France, with a population of some 65 million, has a massive oversupply and is already trying to sell on some of the surplus shots it has received.

“I have cancelled 50 million doses,” Bachelot said on TF1 television.

“These orders had not been paid for or delivered so they are cancelled,” she added.

On Sunday, the Health Ministry said it was also looking to sell millions of surplus vaccines.

The Health Ministry confirmed reports in Sunday’s Le Parisien daily that it had already sold 300,000 shots to Qatar and is set to sell some two million more to Egypt.

“We are in contact with other countries, notably Ukraine and Mexico,” the ministry said in a statement, without providing any financial details.

Le Parisen newspaper said France was looking to sell its stock at the price it paid for it - between 6.25 euros to 10 euros depending on the product.

Some five million people in France have so far been vaccinated against H1N1, health officials say.

The flu virus has killed an estimated 198 people on mainland France, according to data released on Dec. 29, but doctors have said new infections have fallen sharply in recent weeks.

PARIS (Reuters)