Flu vaccine
Flu vaccineKobi Gideon / FLASH90

A global delay will cause influenza vaccines to reach Israel only in November, Israel Hayom reported.

The delay is due to a delay in the World Health Organization deciding which strains of flu to include in the vaccine.

In most years, flu vaccines are available from September.

AstraZeneca, a research-based biopharmaceutical company, told Israel's Health Ministry that FluMist, the nasal spray vaccine, will not be available in Israel this year due to significant delays expected in the manufacturing process, Israel Hayom added.

Flu season this year is expected to begin earlier than usual, and experts have advised receiving the vaccination as soon as possible.

The vaccine will protect against four strains of flu, while previous years' vaccines included only three strains.

Professor Shai Ashkenazi, who heads the Pediatric Medicine Organization and is an expert in pediatrics and infectious diseases, told Israel Hayom: "Flu season is expected to begin early this year, and it will take time before people get vaccinated, especially children who need to receive two doses. It is preferable to receive the vaccination immediately after they arrive in Israel, at the beginning of November just after the holidays."

"We may be in for a difficult winter and we must make every effort to get vaccinated as soon as possible. We can't know when and if the flu will decide to come early. In Australia, it came a month early. We must make every effort to vaccinate early, and the systems must prepare to vaccinate as early as possible, including in schools and clinics."