HEALTHY people were last night urged to stand aside in the queue for swine flu vaccines as supplies reached critically low levels in some areas.

As Government officials prepared to release supplies of the old swine flu vaccine to GPs who have run out, experts told otherwise healthy people who were having a jab as a precaution: “There are others who need the vaccine more than you.”

Officials say the precarious supply situation was being made worse by the “worried well” clamouring for a vaccination.

GPs in some areas have already run out of the flu vaccine – which protects against H1N1 swine flu and two other common forms of the virus – and doses are in short supply across the region.

Pharmacists have seen a surge in inquiries from worried customers, with chemists forced to direct people to GPs.

Health chiefs say only those in at-risk groups should get vaccinated as increased pressure is put on both supplies and NHS resources.

Figures released yesterday showed a rise in the number of people needing critical care in the North-East, with 58 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected flu, plus 68 in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Nationally, 11 more people have died of the virus, bringing this year’s total to 50 fatalities.

Hundreds more are fighting for their lifes in hospital intensive care beds.

Vaccines left over from the 2009 flu pandemic are to be made available to help cope with the demand.

The crisis prompted an urgent appeal from Dr Tricia Cresswell, deputy medical director at NHS North East, last night.

She said: “We are aware of supply issues in some areas.

We are working with primary care trusts, GPs and pharmacists to ensure available supplies of vaccine are moved to where they are needed.

“And we would urge the “worried well” – those who are not at risk – not to contact their GP or pharmacy.

“There are others who need the vaccine more than they do.”

One councillor has demanded to know whether drugs companies are prioritising the supply of vaccine to private retailers after surgeries that had run out of vaccine are advised people to “go private” for an £8 jab offered by supermarkets.

Labour Councillor Richard Rudland, of Brotton, Redcar and Cleveland, received several complaints from residents.

He said: “It’s disgraceful the health service is not sufficiently geared up to deal with the flu crisis and I blame Government funding cuts and lack of forward planning.

“It’s not acceptable that residents cannot access flu vaccines, and to send them to Asda, who seem to have plenty to sell for £8, is the ultimate insult.”

Meanwhile, a previously healthy father-of-two from Tyneside became one of the latest victims. Kevin Hall, 43, an orthopaedic nurse practitioner from Killingworth, Newcastle, had never had a day off sick before the deadly bug took hold.

Mr Hall, who leaves wife Jennifer and young sons Louis and Dominic, died on Christmas Day. The Health Protection Agency said that nationwide 45 patients have now died of swine flu and five from flu type B.

The deaths are mostly among children and young adults, with five cases in the under-fives and eight cases among those aged five to 14.

Health chiefs moved to minimise panic, saying that although flu levels in the North- East are still rising, only a small number of those affected become seriously ill.

Dr Cresswell said: “We appreciate people are worried about swine flu, but the reality is that only an extremely small number of people become seriously ill after catching it.

“Most people who get flu make a full recovery without any need for treatment.

“I am in no way minimising the distress caused to patients who become seriously ill and their loved ones, but it is important that we keep things in perspective.

“Critical care capacity in the region is being assessed daily, with additional capacity in place to care for flu patients and others needing urgent critical care.

“A small number of nonurgent operations have been postponed.”

Dr Cresswell urged those at risk from complications to get the flu jab, despite the problems with vaccine supplies.

She said: “We are encouraging pregnant women and people aged under 65 years with underlying conditions to get the free jab by contacting their GP.

“Pregnant women and those with chronic illness such as diabetes, heart disease, asthma and certain other conditions are at greater risk of more serious illness if they catch flu.”

Leftover vaccine to plug shortage

STOCKS of last year’s swine flu jab will be used to plug shortages in this year’s vaccination programme as the death toll from the virus continues to rise.

The Government insisted yesterday there should still be enough seasonal flu vaccine for at-risk patients in England but a “mismatch” had occurred, with some regions having too much vaccine and others a shortage.

It came as figures showed 11 more people have died from flu across the UK, taking the number of deaths since the start of October to 50.

Angry patients wanting to be vaccinated have reported being turned away from GP surgeries, while some doctors say they have run out.

But GPs, who order the vaccine based on estimates from previous years, are adamant they have not under-ordered.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the interim chief medical officer for England, said leftover stocks of last year’s swine flu vaccine would be made available to surgeries which have run out of seasonal flu vaccine.

Some 12.7 million doses of GlaxoSmithKline’s pandemrix swine flu vaccine are still held centrally by the Government.

Prof Davies said: “We are hearing some stories of the (seasonal flu) vaccine being in one place and the patient being somewhere else.

“The message to the public is if they need the vaccine because they are in an at-risk group, they should come forward because we have it in the system.”

The swine flu vaccine has a shelf life until the end of this year.

Although it will not offer protection against all strains of flu circulating this year, it will protect against the dominant strain – swine flu.

Professor David Salisbury, director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said he did not believe the addition of pregnant women into this year’s vaccination programme had led to the reported shortages, and insisted the swine flu jab would offer people good protection.

He said: “They are not getting a second-class vaccine.

They are getting an effective vaccine and a safe vaccine which will protect them against H1N1 which is the dominant strain at the moment.”

However, he admitted the Government had no idea exactly how much seasonal flu vaccine had already been given to people and how much may be left over in the system.

Geoff Martin, chairman of the campaign group Health Emergency, said resorting to last year’s stock of swine flu vaccines was a complete shambles.

He said: “Are they going to start raiding the nation’s bathroom cabinet to try to get them through this?

“This is a measure of the abject failure on the part of the Government to plan for a flu outbreak that everybody knew was coming.”

Mr Martin said the Department for Health should be ultimately responsible for ensuring GPs had enough vaccines for the winter.