# 3475
The good news is that the UK government plans to provide a swine flu vaccine to their entire nation. The bad news is, at best, only about 1/3rd of the population is likely to get a jab this year.
Maybe less.
The intentionally vague, but no doubt reassuring promise of a `vaccine in the fall’ has been repeated by many governments around the world – and by the mass media - for a couple of months now.
Almost never has this promise been tempered by an estimate as to how much vaccine might be available this fall.
Even now, no one really knows.
But it has been obvious from the start that, even in the UK, there wouldn’t be enough for everyone.
At least, not right away.
Of course, a number of good science reporters including Maryn McKenna of CIDRAP, Helen Branswell of The Canadian Press, and Donald G. McNeil Jr. of the New York Times have written quite frankly about the difficulties of producing and dispensing massive amounts of vaccine by the fall.
So to followers of their reports, and of the various flu forums and blogs, none of this should come as a surprise.
July 12, 2009
Everyone will get vaccine against swine flu
Jon Ungoed-Thomas
The NHS is preparing to vaccinate the entire population against swine flu after the disease claimed the life of its first healthy British patient.
A new vaccine is expected to arrive in Britain in the next few weeks and could be fast-tracked through regulatory approval in five days.
As many as 20m people could be inoculated this year. Ministers have secured up to 90m doses, and the rest of the population is likely to be offered vaccinations next year.
A man from Essex was confirmed on Friday as the first person without underlying health problems to have died from the virus. The health department said most people with the virus had only mild symptoms.
Peter Holden, the British Medical Association’s lead negotiator on swine flu, said GPs’ surgeries were ready for one of the biggest vaccination campaigns in almost 50 years.
“If this virus does [mutate], it can get a lot more nasty, and the idea is to give people immunity. But the sheer logistics of dealing with 60m people can’t be underestimated,” he said.
