Romanian authorities have pushed forward the inoculation programme against swine flu in the country after the virus spread faster than expected, Romanian media said on October 30, citing local health care authorities.

Initially, the vaccination campaign was due to be launched in December, using vaccines developed by a state-owned lab in Bucharest, which is expected to deliver five million vaccines, all for the health ministry's use. But Romanian authorities are now saying that they need one million vaccines, predominantly for pupils, who represent a higher risk group, daily Evenimentul Zilei reported.

Vaccines will allocated and distributed in accordance with priority, with schools in Bucharest and Iasi, in northeastern Romania, at the top of the list with new cases of the H1N1 strain being reported there daily.

Romania says officially the number people diagnosed with the influenza in the country has reached 441, but as is the case with Bulgaria and Greece, local authorities believe that the actual number is a lot higher as people don't report it to authorities, instead treat themselves and worse, keep on interacting with others.

A health ministry task force met on October 30 to discuss a ban on any events that would draw large numbers of people, which would help stem the spread of the strain, daily Cotidianul said. Such a measure, if imposed, would affect the presidential elections campaign ahead of the November 22 vote.