[1]The government has ordered a whopping 55 lakh doses of the intra-nasal spray, at a cost of Rs 55 lakh, to immunize the high-risk population, with the tender for A(H1N1) vaccinations opening on Friday.
A high-level committee has been set up to identify the groups that will receive the vaccine free of cost, with infectious disease specialists claiming that mass vaccination for A(H1N1) is an expensive and unnecessary process.
The huge batch of the A(H1N1) vaccine, manufactured indigenously by the National Institute of Virology in Pune, has been ordered after the number of persons infected in TN since January 2012 hit 59 on Thursday. In Chennai, 26 people have been infected and have undergone treatment so far.
The director of public health, Dr Porkaipandian, says that vaccinating health workers will go a long way in containing the spread of the disease.
“As of now we have not decided if the vaccine will be given to vulnerable people like pregnant women or children, but all doctors and nurses and hospital staff will be vaccinated,” he said. The health department will conduct weekly review meetings to assess the swine flu situation. These will be chaired by the state health secretary and on a district level by the district collectors.
“Real immunity comes only with a regular infection and not vaccinations. Infections like influenza are cyclic and we can claim success only when the virus dies a natural death in society,” says senior scientist Dr B.M. Hegde, adding that viruses tend to mutate every year. and the efficacy of a vaccine against them is uncertain.
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