FRANKFURT, Jan 27 (Reuters) - German doctors have been toldto ration two chickenpox vaccines for children after drugmakerGlaxoSmithKline stopped deliveries, saying productionquality standards had not been met.
Healthcare regulators have issued guidelines to physiciansto deal with shortages of Priorix-Tetra, a combined vaccine formeasles, mumps, rubella and varicella (chickenpox) known asMMRV; and Varilrix, a chickenpox jab.
Vaccines that have already been delivered are safe, saidGermany's federal agency for infectious diseases and itsvaccination agency, adding they expect GSK to resume deliveriesduring the second quarter, without being more specific.
Their advice to doctors include using MMR vaccines insteadof MMRV for initial shots, and delaying booster jabs.
A spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Germany said itdecided to stop all chickenpox vaccine deliveries after it foundinternal production quality standards had not been met, withoutelaborating. The spokeswoman could not say whether othercountries were also affected.
The drugmaker said it would not resume deliveries until thecause of the problem was identified.
Separately, GSK said it also expects a shortage ofBoostrix-Polio, a combined vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus,whooping cough and polio, of more two weeks in February becausean unexpected increase in demand amid limited productioncapacity.