First doses of swine flu vaccine ready

The first two million doses of swine flu vaccine have been delivered to the states
and territories in preparation for the drug's rollout, the federal government says.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon on Friday said Australia's swine flu vaccination
program would start as soon as the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved
the drug for use.
"As soon as the vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective and approved by the
TGA, we will be making all of our collective efforts focused on providing that
vaccine as early as possible to the vulnerable in the community," she told reporters
in Canberra on Friday.
Those with chronic diseases, pregnant women and health workers will be given
priority access to the drug.
Ms Roxon said the TGA's approval process was already underway and anticipated the
vaccination program would still be ready to start later this month.
The government was considering providing the states and territories with extra
funding to deal with the swine flu case load, she said.
Currently 375 people around the country are in hospital with the virus and so far
161 people who have tested positive to swine flu have died.
"This is still a disease that is affecting people (although) we are starting to see
some drop off in the presentation, the numbers in our hospitals," Ms Roxon said.
"Whilst we are probably coming out of the normal flu season we just don't yet know
how many influenza swine flu cases will continue into these coming months."
Ms Roxon said vaccine manufacturer CSL would progressively provide the government
with 21 million doses of the drug over the coming months to January, 2010.
Whether or not this covers all or half of the population will depend on the quality
of the vaccine, which may require two doses to be effective, she said.