Important Londonwide CEO message, volume 2, number 8 - 16 November 2009
A short briefing for you today which covers two important points:
- Vaccination of pregnant women
- Movement of swine flu vaccines between practices
- Vaccination of pregnant women – As we previously advised you, the Department of Health (DH) recommends that pregnant women should be given Pandemrix as this vaccine appears to give adequate levels of antibodies after a single dose thereby conferring protection more rapidly than would be afforded by Celvapan, which requires a two-dose schedule given three weeks apart.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has slightly revised this guidance to state that Celvapan should be administered to those pregnant women who are known to have an egg allergy.
Please also make sure that you read and follow the national guidance on vaccinating pregnant women, namely:
· Clinical professional’s brief on swine flu from the DH
· Immunisation against infectious diseases updates - Movement of swine flu vaccines between practices – The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has agreed that in order to immunise patients in the priority groups, vials of swine flu vaccine can be transferred between GP practices within the London SHA. The text of the MHRA update is as follows:
“Such transfers between GPs are not normally accepted practice. However, during the early phase of the swine flu vaccination programme, should it prove necessary for inter-practice transfers to take place, the health professionals involved should ensure, when dispatching and receiving vaccines, the maintenance of the cold chain, traceability, and provision of current patient information leaflets and summaries of product characteristics – latest versions available from the MHRA website.
It is important to emphasise that in situations where there is a requirement for smaller packs of swine flu vaccine, this requirement should, whenever possible, be met by small packs of vaccine that have been repackaged by either licensed manufacturing sites under appropriate GMP or under professional pharmaceutical supervision.
In London we have developed a standard operating procedure for practices to follow to ensure the maintenance of the cold chain, traceability and provision of patient information leaflets are per MHRA advice.”
The MHRA standard operating procedure is also available to download.