Old pandemic flu vaccine to fill jabs shortfall

Old vaccines left over from the swine flu pandemic will be used to plug the shortfall in this winter's supplies.

The government made the announcement amid reports that GPs in some parts of the country were running out of vaccines.

It comes as the death toll in the flu outbreak climbed by 11 in the past week to reach 50 across the UK.

However, there were signs the number of new infections were beginning to level off, officials said.
The latest figures are hard to interpret because of the Christmas break.
The number of patients going to see their GP with flu fell by a fifth last week, but surgeries were shut for two out of the five days.