Member News
By Helen Franzen - 15th May 2009
The government has signed an agreement to secure supplies of up to 90 million doses of pre-pandemic H1N1 vaccine.
A deal was reached between the UK government and vaccine manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline and Baxter.
The Department of Health said the move was one of the steps being taken in response to the possibility of a pandemic and to protect the most vulnerable people.
Health secretary Alan Johnson said that the "localised cases of swine flu found in the UK have so far been mild".
And he added that "our strategy of containing the spread with anti-virals appears to have been effective in reducing symptoms and preventing further spread of infection".
But he added: "We have an opportunity to secure vaccine in advance of a pandemic wave."
The advance purchase agreements, Johnson said, would "provide vaccine for the entire UK population".
The health secretary explained that this would "take effect when phase six pandemic is declared by the World Health Organisation".
Following such a move would take "over a year for all the vaccine necessary to be provided".
But by December this year the government hopes to have enough pre-pandemic vaccine to protect at least half of the population from swine flu.
If a pandemic is declared, agreements will enable the UK to purchase up to 132 million doses of pandemic-specific vaccine, when it becomes available.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.