Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what happened to the stocks of Tamiflu vaccine bulk-purchased by the NHS.

Tamiflu is not a vaccine but an antiviral drug, which can be used to treat seasonal and pandemic influenza. Antivirals can reduce the length of time that people are ill and reduce the potential for serious complications. During the H1N1 2009 pandemic, antivirals from the stockpile were used to treat those with pandemic influenza. The United Kingdom Government continues to hold a national stockpile of antivirals, including Tamiflu, on behalf of the National Health Service to be used in the event of a pandemic as part of our defence in depth approach to pandemic influenza preparedness. This stockpile is replenished as necessary as stocks reach the end of their shelf-life.