Pregnant Women Among First For Swine Flu Vaccine

The Government has announced that pregnant women and those suffering from asthma, diabetes and heart disease will be among the first in the country to be given the swine flu vaccine.More than 13 million people are in the groups to be vaccinated first in October, and first in the queue will be those aged six months to 65, including people with asthma, diabetes, heart or renal disease.

They will be followed by all pregnant women, subject to licensing arrangements on the most suitable trimester to give the jab, before patients with compromised immune systems are vaccinated.

Next will be anyone over 65 in an at-risk group, but healthy people of any age will not be given the jab in the coming months. However, frontline health workers will get the jab.

In total, some 9.4 million people in England will receive the vaccine if they fall into priority groups.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said it was a “difficult decision” but groups had to be prioritised.

He said the Government would monitor the virus as the UK approached winter. He added that there was not enough vaccine to include healthy people at present.