The Ministry of Health, Population and Hospital Reform issued a special instruction preventing the import and distribution of anti-seasonal flu vaccines by importers and private pharmacists, and devolved this task on the public sector only, as these flu vaccines will henceforth be distributed to health centres only, convergent sources say.

• The same sources added that the date of vaccines in late this year because of this instruction, and due to the measures of the supplementary Finance law for 2009, which tightened, with its provisions, the work of Pasteur Institute which imported the required vaccine quantity.
•     
• The season of vaccination is supposed to have started since September 21 with the beginning of the fall until the beginning of winter, a period in which people get infected by the seasonal flu because of the climate changes, thus their bodies must be protected and supported by a high medical immunity against any virus, especially the elderly.
• The Ministry prevented all the pharmacies from selling or distributing these vaccines without explaining the reasons behind this ban, while the health centres are the only facilities  to grant these vaccinations  as the ministry neglected buying them for the elderly patients.
• According to available information, the Ministry imported a special quantity for the Hadj pilgrims in anticipation of the season, but it is a small amount on the way to running out and can not cover individuals apart from the pilgrims.
• However, the Ministry has accelerated the pending implementation of the new instruction which intends to regulate the import of seasonal influenza vaccine and make it under the supervision of the public sector as is the case in most countries of the world so as  to preserve the health of the population, as 60 million swine flu vaccines have been imported.