Swine flu vaccination programme to keep local authorities busy in coming months

Shots available for two different types of flu

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The parents of many small children will have to go to a clinic twice for swine flu, or H1N1 vaccinations in the autumn. First, to accompany their children in for a jab.
      The vaccine is to become available incrementally, and small children are among the groups that are given priority.
      Flu shots will be a big issue in the coming months. In addition to the vaccination of the whole population for swine flu, there will also be vaccinations against the regular seasonal influenza.
     
Swine flu vaccine is expected to arrive in Finland in late October. Shots for regular seasonal flu have generally been given at about the same time.
      Local authorities are thinking about ways to deal with the vaccination programme without very many visits to the clinic.
      National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) recommends that both vaccines be taken according to instructions.
     
The priority lists of risk groups linked with the administering of the H1N1 vaccines are causing considerable organisational work at the local level, says Jane Marttila, a doctor of infectious diseases working for the City of Turku.
      In Espoo, Tuija Kumpulainen, the head physician of the city’s health clinic operations, ponders if there might not be room for flexibility in the order in which groups are vaccinated in cases in which there are fewer members of a certain risk group showing up for a vaccine than initially expected.
      Turku and Espoo plans to administer vaccinations to pregnant women and young children at schools and maternity clinics.
     
In Helsinki, the aim is to vaccinate at clinics where people normally go to for treatment, says epidemiologist Hannele Kotilainen.
      “We aim at making things smooth. We are trying to avoid having patients come to the clinic many times.”
      Officials in Espoo and Turku are considering offering vaccinations at occupational health stations of larger work places. One potential complication is that the vaccines are administered by municipal authorities, and many workplaces have employees living in different municipalities.
      Terhi Kipli, head of the vaccination department of THL, says that the risk involved in administering vaccines at the workplace is that news that a person has received the vaccine might not reach the health authorities of the municipality where that person lives.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Swine flu vaccinations to start in late October (18.9.2009)
  Swine flu outbreak at Espoo day care centre (7.9.2009)
  Swine flu may cause decreased intensive care availability (2.9.2009)
  H1N1 brings easier terms for sick leave (13.8.2009)

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