Last update - 00:00 15/11/2006
Health Minister: 400,000 flu vaccinations to arrive in Israel
By Zvi Zrahiya, Haaretz Correspondent
More than 400,000 additional flu vaccinations will arrive in Israel in the near future, Health Minister Yaakov Ben Yizri said Wednesday at a Knesset meeting on the shortage of vaccinations.
Forty thousand dosages will be released for public use already on Thursday, Ben Yzri said at the meeting, which was initiated by MK Magali Wahaba (Kadima).
In the past few days, hundreds of complaints from the elderly were filed with the Pensioners' Union, complaining of a lack of flu vaccinations in the health care clinics.
The majority of complaints are against the Clalit HMO, where most of the elderly in Israel are insured.
Pensioners' Union Chairman Gideon Ben-Yisrael demanded Ben Yizri intervene in the matter, insisting the shortage was due to a lack of supply from international manufacturers.
According to Ben Yzri, 36 percent of the elderly in the country have been vaccinated. Some 50 percent of the elderly registered at Clalit have been vaccinated.
In the Meuhedet HMO, which carries a supply of 17,000 doses, 45 percent of registered members have been vaccinated. In Maccabi HMO, which has a supply of 30,000 doses, 30 percent of members have been vaccinated, while 20 percent of members belonging to Leumit HMO, which has 50,000 doses, have been vaccinated.