No voucher needed for swine flu jab

SWINE flu vaccination centres across France will now accept anyone who turns up, regardless of whether or not they are officially registered for healthcare.

Until now, it was necessary to wait for the Assurance Maladie to send a voucher in the post before going to get the jab.

Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot has announced that a voucher is no longer necessary - meaning anyone who has recently arrived in France and is not fully registered can still benefit from the free vaccine.

The jab will also start to be made available in GPs' surgeries. The French social security system will pay doctors €6.60 per jab - but some unions had been hoping for €22, the same amount that they receive for a consultation.

The opening up of the vaccination campaign to surgeries and non-registered residents comes after it emerged France had bought far too many doses of the swine flu jab.

It had ordered 94 million, at a cost of €675m, in July - but only five million people have been vaccinated so far and only one dose per person is necessary, rather than two.