Information on the swine flu vaccine:
We have now open Swine Flu Immunisation Clinics for Children aged 6 months to 5 years old.
Please contact the reception to book your appointment.
The swine flu vaccination programme began on 21 October 2009, with the highest-risk groups being offered the vaccine first.
If you have any questions about the swine flu vaccine or about receiving the vaccination, please read this page carefully.
This page explains who will get the swine flu vaccine and why, the vaccination programme, effectiveness of the vaccine, and safety issues.
Who get the vaccine?
The groups of people who are most vulnerable to serious illness from swine flu are offered the vaccine first. In order of priority, these are:
- People aged between six months and 65 years in the seasonal flu vaccine at risk group (see article here).
- All pregnant women.
- People who live with someone whose immune system is compromised (for example, people with cancer or HIV/AIDS).
- People aged 65 and over in the seasonal flu vaccine at-risk groups.
- Young children aged over six months and under five years.
Frontline health and social care workers are also offered the vaccine at the same time as the first clinical at-risk groups. Health and social care workers both have an increased risk of catching swine flu and of spreading it to other at-risk patients.
Healthy people aged over 65 are not a swine flu priority group as they appear to have some natural immunity to the swine flu virus. Surveillance has shown fewer swine flu cases in people over 65 than in younger people.
Babies under six months cannot be vaccinated because the flu vaccines do not produce enough of an immune response in them to provide protection.
Effectiveness of the vaccine
Seasonal flu vaccines give around 70-80% protection against infection with flu virus strains. Because the swine flu vaccines are an exact match to the swine flu strain that is currently circulating, they should give at least this amount of protection.
The government will be able to to measure the effectiveness of the swine flu vaccines once they are in use against swine flu.
The swine flu prototype vaccines have been clinically tested and shown to produce good immune system responses, and have an acceptable safety profile. The insertion of the H1N1 strain into the vaccine should not substantially affect the safety of the vaccine in the same way that annual modifications to the seasonal flu vaccine do not.
The swine flu vaccine should provide protection against the pandemic strain of swine flu for several years following vaccination. As well as offering protection against the serious effects of swine flu, it may also help to reduce the spread of the infection.
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