25% of people received swine flu jab

ONE in four of the population have been inoculated against swine flu after a surge in demand for the vaccine in the last few months.

The public swine flu vaccination programme ends tomorrow but the Health Service Executive (HSE) has decided to continue offering the vaccine to pregnant women after that. Expectant mothers will continue to be able to get the vaccine free of charge from their GP or maternity hospital.

Anyone else who misses tomorrow’s deadline but still wants to be vaccinated will have to discuss their request individually with their GP to see if the vaccine can be obtained for them.

Otherwise they will have to wait to see if the virus returns with sufficient strength to prompt a second public vaccination programme.

Swine flu has claimed 24 lives here since last August when the first death was confirmed, and it is estimated up to 15% of the population have been infected.

The HSE said the number of new cases had decreased significantly and it was satisfied with the numbers vaccinated. Fewer than one in six people had been vaccinated by the start of this year, but the figure now stands at almost 1.1 million.

In a statement, the HSE said: “This figure is much higher than has been achieved in other countries and we hope this level of protection will help in mitigating the effects of any possible second wave of infection.”

It continued: “We are also currently maintaining sufficient stocks of vaccines in the country for use should we experience any subsequent waves of the virus. Pandemics by their nature are unpredictable and historically tend to come in a number of waves.”

Vaccinating the nation has cost €26.64 million so far – €12.8m for the vaccines already used and €13.84m to cover GPs’ fees, syringes, masks and other essentials, publicity campaigns and the extra demands on intensive care and high dependency units in hospitals.

In January the Government cancelled an order with Baxter Healthcare for extra supplies of the vaccine that would have cost between €25m and €35m but further substantial costs are expected this year to cover the maintenance of existing stocks and a surplus ordered from GlaxoSmithKline.

The HSE said discussions with the pharmaceutical company were ongoing and it was not possible to estimate the costs likely to be incurred this year.