Mass swine flu vaccination underway in UK

A mass swine flu immunisation programme got underway in Britain today with the country’s chief medic urging all priority groups to take up the offer of vaccination.

Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer for England, said it was important for frontline health and social care workers to get themselves vaccinated against swine flu along with other groups classified as a “priority” or at risk.

He said: “This is the first pandemic for which we have had vaccine to protect people.

“I urge everyone in the priority groups to have the vaccine – it will help prevent people in clinical risk groups from getting swine flu and the complications that may arise from it."

Donaldson's call comes amid concern about the effects of a possible postal strike on the vaccination programme.

GPs will begin receiving deliveries of the vaccine from Monday and will send appointment letters to patients classified as at risk.

The immunisation programme offering more than 11 million people the vaccine began with hospitals vaccinating frontline health care workers and their patients who fall into at risk categories against swine flu.

Around two million frontline health and social care workers will be offered the vaccine, as they are classified as at increased risk of infection and of transmitting the infection to susceptible patients.

The vaccination programme will be extended over the coming weeks.

The Department of Health said at-risk groups will be given priority in the following order: people aged over six months and under 65 years in current seasonal flu vaccine clinical at-risk groups; all pregnant women; household contacts of people with compromised immune systems; and people aged 65 and over in the current seasonal flu vaccine clinical at-risk groups.

The Department of Health said this did not include otherwise healthy over-65s, since they appeared to have some natural immunity to the virus.

Patients will be contacted by their GPs if they fall into one of the at-risk categories, the Department said.

The GSK vaccine Pandemrix will be offered to the “vast majority”, with most people needing only one dose of this vaccine for protection.