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The NHS is striving to find the right flu shots in time for this winter, as millions of Britons fear they will not be protected from a deadly "Australian" strain, quotes Telegraph, according to Trend.
Health officials said delays by the World Health Organization (WHO) in vaccine selection for this winter meant that some bites would not be delivered to general practitioners' offices before the end of November.
Normally, flu vaccines are offered by the NHS from September.
In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, health officials urge general practitioners and pharmacists to check when their supplies will be delivered.
According to the manufacturers, the manufacturers warned that the late decision of WHO would result in a delay in the supply of vaccines.
The WHO generally formulates its recommendations on influenza strains to be protected in February. But this year, the H3N2 strain decision was delayed by one month to adjust to the mutations of key strains in circulation.
Since then, the virus has emerged as dominant in Australia, which is currently experiencing one of the worst flu seasons ever recorded.
The country, which is now at the height of winter, has already had three times more deaths than during the last season, with about eight times more laboratory-confirmed cases than normal.
NHS officials hope the jabs will arrive before the flu season in the UK, which usually starts in December.
But this year, Australia has had one of its first flu seasons in its history.
Delays in NHS injections affect "quadrivalent" injections used for pregnant women and adults with health problems, such as asthma or diabetes.
Other types of vaccinations are offered to people aged 65 and over, using a stimulant designed to improve the immune response, while children receive a nasal spray vaccine.
The letter from Mary Ramsay, Public Health England Vaccination Officer, and Deborah Tomalin, NHS England's Director of Public Health Operations, was sent to all GPs and community pharmacists in England.
Late WHO recommendations – "in response to a recent increase in the proportion of viruses detected that would not be effectively treated with existing vaccine strains" – should now have implications for the NHS.
"Manufacturers have told us that the late WHO recommendation on vaccine strains had an impact on their vaccine supply.
Sanofi Pasteur has indicated that it plans to phase-out deliveries of inactivated quadrivalent (QIV) influenza vaccines for at-risk individuals and those under 65 years of age. Some vaccines will be delivered by the end of November before the start of the influenza season.
The drug giant is one of four companies that will use vaccines this year.
All generalists are now urged to contact the manufacturers to find out when supplies will be delivered, to plan appointment planning.
The revelations are related to growing concern over the NHS's reaction this winter.
Last month, 471 NHS patients waited at least 12 hours on a cart after arriving at the emergency and accident services. In June 2012, only two patients waited so long.
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