Japan: H1N1 Flu Vaccination Kicks-off

The Japanese government has given priority to its health care workers who are the most exposed to the H1N1 virus. On October 19, health care workers received the H1N1 flu vaccine.

[Suminobu Ito, Director, National Hospital Organization]:
„The vaccinations starting with medical workers began today, and the vaccine’s stability test is also being conducted with contributions of more than 20,000 workers at National Hospital Organization.“

To guarantee the safety of the vaccine, more than 550 medical workers at Tokyo Medical Center were among those test-vaccinated with a locally produced H1N1 flu vaccine.

[Suminobu Ito, Director, National Hospital Organization]:
„I think Japan is not delayed in vaccinating its people considering that the U.S. has just started it, but we still need more data about the new vaccine in order to conduct mass vaccination.“

The H1N1 vaccine was already tested with about 200 people in September.

Children, pregnant women and those who have medical problems will be the next group to receive the vaccine beginning in November.

The government aims to vaccinate a total of 77 million people by the end of March next year.

According to the World Health Organization, the H1N1 swine flu had reached epidemic levels in Japan, signaling an early start to what may be a long flu season this year.

(NTDTV)