Australia expects to launch a swine flu vaccination program next month, giving the first doses to vulnerable Australians including pregnant women, handicapped children and health workers, the health minister said today.
It was not immediately clear if Australia would be the first country to start vaccinations following the emergence in April of a swine flu strain that has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said she expected other countries to start programs at about the same time. The US government, to be supplied by GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and other pharmaceutical companies, has predicted it would start distributing a vaccine by mid-October.
Roxon said Australian pharmaceutical manufacturer, CSL will deliver the first of 2 million doses of the new vaccine to the government on Aug 31, but that safety tests from clinical trial are not yet complete.
"We are planning for the vaccination program to commence at some time in September," she told reporters.
In Australia, the vaccine will first go to priority groups who make up more than 4 million of Australia's 21 million population pregnant women, chronically ill, the obese, Outback Aborigines, handicapped children and health workers.
