More flu jabs on the way this week

Amid heightened concerns over the rising mortality rate due to the flu virus, Health Minister Andreas Xanthos said over the weekend that 24,000 flu vaccines will be available at pharmacies this week, while another 26,000 are expected by the end of the month.

"I think that in this way we are boosting and shielding people that are at greater risk of suffering from serious symptoms," he said, stressing that there are adequate supplies of vaccines.

"We need to be calm and not complacent, but we must not panic either," he said.

The number of lives claimed in Greece by the H1N1 flu virus since October rose to 56, according to a weekly report issued on Thursday by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO).

However, the union of Greek hospital workers decried what it described as KEELPNO's "inaccurate" data, saying that the number of casualties could...