UK: Everyone will get vaccine against swine flu

July 11, 2009

From The Sunday Times

July 12, 2009

Everyone will get vaccine against swine flu

Jon Ungoed-

The NHS is preparing to vaccinate the entire population against swine flu

after the disease claimed the life of its first healthy British patient.

A new vaccine is expected to arrive in Britain in the next few weeks and

could be fast-tracked through regulatory approval in five days.

As many as 20m people could be inoculated this year. Ministers have secured

up to 90m doses, and the rest of the population is likely to be offered

vaccinations next year.

A man from Essex was confirmed on Friday as the first person without

underlying health problems to have died from the virus. The health

department said most people with the virus had only mild symptoms.

Holden, the British Medical Association’s lead negotiator on swine flu

said GPs’ surgeries were ready for one of the biggest vaccination campaigns

in almost 50 years.

“If this virus does [mutate], it can get a lot more nasty, and the idea is

to give people immunity. But the sheer logistics of dealing with 60m people

can’t be underestimated,” he said.

The health department said a vaccination programme would be drawn up based on

expert advice.

Recommended Posts