77 mil. new flu vaccines to be secured, administration begins Oct. 19

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TOKYO, Oct. 1 Kyodo -
Japan will secure vaccines against the new influenza H1N1 for 77 million people
and administer vaccines possibly from Oct. 19 with priority to medical staff,
pregnant women and children, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said
Thursday.
The decision is included in the draft basic policy for vaccination that was
adopted at Thursday's meeting of the government's taskforce set up earlier this
year to deal with the highly infectious influenza.
The overall vaccination will cost around 138 billion yen, according to Hirano.
''I would like you to be aware that your handling will determine the fate of
people's lives and take all means necessary,'' Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
said at the start of the meeting that brought together all of his 17 Cabinet
members.
''It's more important than anything to adopt concrete measures'' ahead of the
seasons when more infections are expected, he said.
The basic policy states that the government will secure domestically produced
vaccines for 27 million people by the March 31, 2009, end of this fiscal year,
and will import vaccines for an additional 50 million people.
A Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry official declined to comment on
specifically which company the government plans to import vaccines from, saying
negotiations are still in progress.
Since the amount of vaccine is limited, priority for vaccination will be given
to health professionals, pregnant women, patients with underlining diseases, as
well as children aged from 1 year to third-grader in elementary school, who
could potentially suffer critical conditions if infected.
One person needs two vaccination shots at a fixed cost of 6,150 yen.
==Kyodo