Swine flu vaccine roll-out begins

The first batch of swine flu vaccines is being delivered across the country today.

The Health Service Executive has confirmed that it could take two weeks before all doctors across the country are supplied with the Swine Flu vaccine.

The vaccine will be first administered to an estimated 410,000 at-risk patients.

Those in the at-risk group include women who are more than 14 weeks pregnant and those aged six months to 65 years with chronic conditions such as long-term lung, heart, liver and kidney disease.

Those with MS or other neurological conditions, with diabetes, severely obesity, blood disorders or compromised immune systems are also included in the category, which roughly makes up about ten per cent of the population.

Speaking this morning, the HSE's national director of population Dr Pat Doorley said the vaccine would be available free-of-charge to everybody in the State.

Due to the fact it was arriving in small quantities, he said it would be given to at-risk groups first.

Dr Doorley said one dose should be enough but said "final scientific confirmation" of this would be expected "in a couple of weeks or so".

He told RTÉ's Morning Irelandthat distributing the vaccine "will be a big challenge" but insisted that all participating GPs will have the vaccine "in ten working days days or so".

He advised patients in the at-risk group to phone their GPs in order to make an appointment.

While 1,800 GPs have already signed up for the vaccination programme, Dr Doorley said he hoped more GPs would participate. "We do actually believe that most patients - and some of these people are ill - would far prefer to be vaccinated in their GPs surgery than travel to a HSE facility which we will make available wherever that's neccessary."

The Irish Timesreported last week that just 70 GPs have so far refused to be involved in the vaccination of at-risk groups and about 200 others have sought additional information from the HSE on issues such as indemnity. GPs are being paid €10 each per vaccine administered

Latest figures show the influenza-like illness rate in the community rose to a rate of 97.1 cases per 100,000 of the population in the past week, up from 88 per 100,000 the previous week.

The HSE confirmed last week that the highest rates of infection were now in the 5 to 14 age group, where rates of infection have reached 170 cases per 100,000.