WHO Donates 9 Million Flu Shots to Philippines

MANILA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) promised on Thursday to donate 9 million H1N1 flu shots to the Philippines, and assured the country the vaccines were safe.

At least 1.2 million of the vaccine shots will be made available by the end of the year and be distributed to about 400,000 health workers in the Philippines, WHO director-general Margaret Chan told reporters in Manila.

"The vaccine is safe," Chan said, adding the rate of side effects was within the expected range.

But she urged the Philippines to conduct post-vaccination surveillance to determine any potential harmful side effects.

Chan said the WHO has prioritized donating flu vaccines to 10 percent of the population of poor and developing countries from stockpiles from more developed states. The Philippines has about 92 million people.

Last week, the WHO said the H1N1 vaccine had been cleared of blame for 41 deaths which health authorities worldwide had investigated after suspicions were raised they might have been caused by the inoculation.

Governments have so far reported that 65 million vaccine doses have been administered against H1N1, known as swine flu, in 16 countries, but the true figure is probably higher since immunization campaigns are under way in 40 states, said a WHO vaccine expert.

At least 6,770 deaths have been recorded worldwide since the H1N1 virus emerged in April -- but officials always stress the confirmed count represents only a fraction of the actual cases as most patients never get tested.

In the Philippines, 33 deaths were recorded in nearly 5,500 cases from May to October this year.

(Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Paul Tait)

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