Nov 6, 2009, 15:38 GMT
Warsaw - Poland will not buy swine flu vaccines until they are proven to be safe and without side effects, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday.
'We don't want to save and we won't save on vaccines if we are certain that they are safe for the Polish patient,' Tusk said, adding that there was 'great pressure from pharmaceutical companies' when it came to purchasing the vaccines.
The European Commission confirmed Friday that vaccines are the best tactic to fight the swine flu.
'We realize there are today no other alternatives to the shots,' Tusk said, 'And I would be very interested ... in a statement that the European Commission takes on itself legal responsibility for the shot's side effects.'
Tusk said there had been no swine flu deaths in Poland. He said that he was 'treating the problem diligently' that he had a family member infected with the H1N1 virus.
Debate on the vaccines flared up in Poland with a deadly flu outbreak in Ukraine, Poland's eastern neighbour.
A total of 109 people suffering from flu-related symptoms have died in Ukraine since late October.
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