Swine flu vaccination: who will be first?

Thursday 09 July 2009

The health and environment institute RIVM will not decide which group of Dutch citizens should first be vaccinated against swine flu until the last moment, the Telegraaf reports on Thursday.

Three groups are likely to be among the first to be vaccinated: the elderly and those with chronic health problems; people who are likely to be extra sensitive to the disease, such as children and people with heart and lung conditions, and medical staff, the paper says.

But officials want to gather as much information as possible before making a decision

The Netherlands has bought 34 million doses of the vaccine, which are due to be delivered from October. Until then, the country has five million doses of virus inhibitor Tamiflu to help people who have already been infected.

In total, 145 people in the Netherlands have been identified as having the virus. None have died, although one man has spent several weeks in intensive care, the paper said.

© DutchNews.nl

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