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Swine flu latest from the NHS

The secretary of state for health has confirmed which priority groups will be given the first doses of swine flu vaccine, which is expected to arrive in October.

While the government has ordered enough vaccine for the entire population this will take time to produce, and so the most vulnerable groups will be given priority to receive initial stocks of the jab.

Andy Burnham said that the earliest doses of vaccine would be given to at-risk groups in the following order:

People aged between six months and 65 years in the clinically at-risk groups for seasonal flu

Pregnant women, subject to licensing by the European Medicines Agency, which will indicate whether it can be given throughout pregnancy or only at certain stages of pregnancy

Household contacts of people with compromised immune systems

People aged 65 and over in the current seasonal flu vaccine clinical at-risk groups The health secretary said: “Although the virus has so far proved to be mild in most people, for others it has been more serious. By vaccinating high-risk groups first, we aim to protect those most vulnerable to this virus”. He also confirmed that frontline health and social care workers will also begin to be vaccinated at the same time as the first at-risk group.

18.08.09

This story is from NHS Online.



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