Medical Council President Dr. Abdullah Afeef has issued an advisory warning to private imports of vaccines. The warning came after photos of Members of Parliament with flu vaccines circulated in social media.

The photos show Bilehdhoo Constituency MP Ahmed Mubeen, Velidhoo Constituency MP Yameen Rasheed and Dhuvaafaru Constituency MP Mohamed Ali with the flu vaccines. MP Mubeen had taken to twitter, tweeting the said photos with the caption, “vaccines are here, there is no one like Madam”. He had thanked First Lady Fathimath Ibrahim for her generous donation to the effort.

In a Facebook post, Dr. Afeef noted two aspects that have to be taken into consideration when bringing in supplies of vaccines, especially by private individuals.

Firstly, Dr. Afeef said that flu vaccines must be maintained between 2 – 8 degrees Celsius, from production to administration. If improperly maintained, he said the vaccines were at risk of being damaged. Hence, Dr. Afeef noted that administering these vaccines may result in adverse effects.

In addition, Dr. Afeef said that while vaccines were generally safe, allergic reactions were a possibility. As such, the doctor noted that vaccines must be administered in a place that had easy access to medical services.

Dr. Abdullah Niyaf, member of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) task force created to manage the H1N1 outbreak, had supported Dr. Afeef’s statement, adding that this must be taken into consideration.