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H1N1 Vaccinations to Begin Next Month

and delivery of 900,000 doses of the vaccine is assured by October-end.

Priority will be accorded to Haj pilgrims, healthcare workers, pregnant women, the elderly and children.

Inoculation will be administered countrywide at fixed and mobile units of hospitals, primary healthcare centres, maternal and child health centres, and school health departments.

Health officials said 500 workers may be required in four-hour daily shifts of a five-day week. It takes three to five minutes to administer a dose. According to the manufacturer’s ongoing studies, two doses of the vaccine are required, 21 days apart.

“We are ready with the promised delivery of the first batch of 900,000 doses of the vaccine for the year 2009,” said Dr Aly Ziwar, Medical and Regulatory Director for GlaxoSmithKline, Gulf and Near East region.

“However, the Health Ministry is currently studying a dossier presented by the company on the side effects and safety of the vaccine before the drug is registered and licensed for use in the UAE,” he said.

Those vaccinated will be issued an international certificate. A ministry source said Saudi Arabia would vaccinate those Haj pilgrims not inoculated.

Dr Ziwar also said the remaining batches of GSK’s Pandermrix, or D-Pan intramuscular vaccine, would be delivered through next year in monthly instalments.

However, he did not say what the total number of doses the UAE had ordered, though figures released by the ministry earlier placed it at over three million.

D-Pan is manufactured in Germany and has already been licensed in the European Union. The second vaccine being manufactured in Canada by GSK is Arepanrix (Q-Pan) and will be available in the UAE later.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.ae

• UAE