UPDATE 1-Merck recalls 1.2 mln doses of children's vaccines

(Recasts with Merck comments on number of doses)

WASHINGTON Dec 12 (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) voluntarily recalled about 1.2 million doses of children's vaccines because quality-control checks found production equipment may not have been properly sterilized, the company said on Wednesday.

The Food and Drug Administration had announced that the company recalled 12 lots of the PedvaxHIB and Comvax vaccines "due to lack of assurance of product sterility."

Both vaccines protect against a common cause of pneumonia, meningitis and upper respiratory infections. Comvax also prevents hepatitis B.

Mark Feinberg, a vice president for Merck's vaccine division, confirmed the FDA announcement and said those lots involved about 1.2 million doses.

Merck spokeswoman Mary Elizabeth Blake said the company discovered during routine quality-control checks that there was a possibility that vaccine processing equipment "was not fully sterilized." (Reporting by Lisa Richwine, Editing by Gary Hill)