Government to provide free swine flu jab

A free swine flu vaccination is to be offered to the general population in the coming months, as part of a major plan to avoid the worst affects of a global pandemic.

The HSE plans to acquire over 7,500,000 doses of the vaccine, at a cost of almost €90m.

The jabs would be administered by GPs or through a network of over a hundred swine flu clinics and will be ready by the autumn.

Twelve new cases of swine flu were confirmed here yesterday, bringing the total number in Ireland to 63.