A swine flu vaccine has been authorised to be used within the United Kingdom, by European Regulators. The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) have approved the use of Pandemrix, which is produced by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) under the brand name of Prepandrix.

It contains an inactive form of the flu virus, which stimulates the immune system, and was originally approved by the European Commission on the 20th May 2008, after recommendation by the EMEA.

The vaccine is only authorised for use in influenza pandemics declared by the World Health Organisation or European Union, because it only inoculates a patient for about six months. As this is a pandemic, it is understandable why it has only now been authorised, however the question remains as to why it took so long.

There is much controversy about flu vaccines being rushed through EU safety checks, however this vaccine was approved long before the outbreak of swine flu in April 2009 - therefore it would not have been rushed through the regulation checks because of the pressure created by the pandemic. If it was already approved for use, why would it take a full five months before it was re-approved for use? This is especially strange, considering it is actually marketed as a pre-pandemic vaccine - one designed to be used in an outbreak before it is declared a full pandemic, so a proper virus specific to the strain can be developed.

According to an update by the WHO on 20th September, there is a cumulative total of at least 53,000 cases of swine flu in Europe with over 154 deaths. How many of these could have been prevented if the pre-pandemic vaccine already developed had been approved faster?

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "We are pleased that the European regulator has recommended that the GSK vaccine should be granted a licence by the European Commission. This is a positive step towards getting full licences for vaccine to protect the public."

And yet despite this, there has not yet been a shipment of GSK stock to Britain, and the European Commission won’t rubber-stamp the approval by the EMEA for a couple of weeks.

How many people have needlessly suffered, needlessly died, because of the delayed review and approval of a vaccine already developed, and designed to be used before the pandemic became global?