Israel signs first contract for flu vaccine

JERUSALEM, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Israel has signed its first agreement for A/H1N1 vaccine with a French company, preparing for the expected flu outbreak in winter, local daily Ha'aretz reported on Sunday.

The deal with the pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur would allow Israel to purchase vaccines worth of 7 million New Israeli Shekel (about 1.8 million U.S. dollars) after it is tested safe and approved by regulators.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government holds the option to reduce its order if it lowers the estimate on the amount of vaccine needed, the report said.

The novel flu has hit Israeli with 2,000 people having been diagnosed with the flu virus so far and five deaths reported. Israeli health experts have warned that some one quarter of the Israeli population would contract the virus during a possible outbreak this winter, among whom around 700 would die.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to purchase a massive quantity of vaccines to provide for all citizens at the price of around 450 million shekel (about 117 million U.S. dollars), should the need arise. But some experts opposed ordering of the unproven vaccines at this moment.

Deputy Health Minister Ya'acov Litzman leaves for the United States on Sunday, with part of the tasks to talk with some American companies on A/H1N1 flu vaccines, another Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported.