Human swine influenza vaccine procurement will continue despite yesterday's cancellation of a tender to supply inoculations, Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow says.

Speaking to reporters after attending an international flu symposium in Beijing today, he said the tender was cancelled because no offer conformed to the essential requirements specified in the tender document.

Despite this, Dr Chow gave assurances the Government has no plan to change the timetable of its swine flu vaccination programme. Launching another open tender exercise is one option, he said, adding the Government may also consider starting a restricted tendering process in which designated suppliers will be asked to provide more information on the vaccine provision.

"At this stage there is no need to change the requirements specified in the tender document. Vaccine quality and safety are the top issues we will consider when we make our decision."

As at 2.30pm today, there were 326 newly confirmed cases of human swine flu in the past 24 hours - bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong to 8,535. A total of 70 confirmed cases are staying in public hospitals for treatment - 58 in stable condition, three in serious and nine in critical condition.

The new cases involve 174 males and 152 females, aged between six months and 78 years.