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Priority groups for the vaccination programme

  • Last modified date:
    21 September 2009

Accepting advice from independent expert committees, including the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), Health Secretary Andy Burnham has today (13 August 2009) announced the priority groups for vaccination against swine flu:

i. individuals aged six months and up to 65 years in the current seasonal flu vaccine clinical at-risk groups
ii. all pregnant women, subject to licensing considerations on trimesters
iii. household contacts of immunocompromised individuals
iv. people aged 65 and over in the current seasonal flu vaccine clinical at-risk groups

These groups have been identified because they are at highest risk of severe illness should they contract the swine flu virus.  They should be prioritised for vaccination in order, once the vaccine has been licensed. Frontline health and social care workers will be offered the vaccine at the same time as the first clinical risk group as they are at increased risk of infection and of transmitting that infection to vulnerable patients.   Those staff eligible for seasonal flu vaccine, as set out in the Green Book, will be eligible for swine flu vaccination. This includes staff who have regular clinical contact with patients and who are directly involved in patient care.

Further operational guidance to the NHS on the roll out of the programme will be made available in the next few weeks. The Department of Health is working with the BMA and NHS organisations to reach a comprehensive swine flu vaccine implementation plan for this first stage of the programme.

Preparations continue to be made to extend the programme beyond these initial priority groups and JCVI will consider this matter further and report back in due course.

To support today’s announcement, the following letters and information have been published.

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