Healthy adults won't get swine flu jab until next year
Photo: Tim Boyle, Getty Images
THE vaccination of the State's "healthy" adult population will not get under way until early next year.
Health Service Executive (HSE) chief Brendan Drumm said the mass vaccination programme would not begin until after those at highest risk had received the vaccine.
The announcement was made as a toddler became the third person to die in the North after becoming infected with swine flu.
The child, who was aged less than three years, died on Tuesday but the exact cause of death is not yet known.
Here, GPs are being asked to volunteer to begin vaccinating around 400,000 patients with underlying medical conditions the week after next. Vaccination of healthcare workers is to follow.
Healthy children will be next in line and and the final group will be vaccinated in special HSE-run clinics to be set up around the country.
The HSE is still unsure about the level of supplies of vaccine it will receive over the coming months.
A meeting between the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and HSE officials yesterday led to some reassurance that issues such as indemnity for GPs will be sorted out.
However, Dr Ronan Boland of the IMO stressed last night that outstanding issues had yet to be resolved and that it was ultimately a matter for individual GP to decide to take part in the programme to vaccine at risk patients.
He said the IMO was not advising GPs to take on the work but he hoped large numbers would be able to do so.
Clinics
Not all GPs would be able to manage this level of vaccinations and this could mean patients being referred to another doctor or to the HSE set ting up its own clinic.
GPs, who have until tomorrow to sign up, will have to contact their patients with certain medical conditions and invite them for the vaccine.
The IMO had expressed concerns about doctors being sued in the event of patients suffering side effects from the vaccine. The State has taken over this cover, the HSE said. Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said over 100,000 doses of the licensed GlaxoSmithKline vaccine are due this week and it also has supplies in stock of the Baxter vaccine, which was given the green light by the European Commission yesterday.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Mary Harney said funds were being provided to expand the intensive care capacity in hospitals and train staff to deal with the rise in numbers of people who will have to be admitted with the virus over the winter.
This includes installing more ventilators as well as training and upskilling of staff.
A HSE spokesman said the there were currently 289 hospital critical care beds in hospitals and the aim was to the double the capacity to treat additional patients by opening 37 beds currently closed .
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Baxter said the company continues to deliver vaccine on an ongoing basis to national public health authorities including Ireland.
The company is conducting two randomised trials in 400 healthy adults age 18 and over and in 400 children and adolescents.
These trials are evaluating the safety and immune response to the vaccine at certain dose levels.
Once countries initiate national vaccination programmes, Baxter will also conduct a large-scale observational study involving 9,000 people of different age groups, including children.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
Irish Independent
