Swine flu vaccine from September 28

FRANCE has received its first batch of swine flu jabs and is set to begin vaccinating people at the end of next month.

However a new survey published today has found that almost two-thirds of people are not worried about the disease, which has so far killed ten people.

France has ordered 94 million doses of the jab – at a total cost of a billion euros – and is preparing for up to half of the population to fall ill in the event of an outbreak.

Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot refused to say how many had already been delivered, but confirmed yesterday that the first batch was ready.

The four-month vaccination campaign is likely to begin on September 28. Doctors, nurses and other medical workers will be among the first to get a priority jab.

It will not be until mid-October when a mass jab will be available. The Assurance Maladie will provide free flu vouchers and two doses of the vaccine will be offered to people as part of the traditional winter flu prevention campaign.

Special vaccination centres will be set up across the country capable of treating up to 15,000 people in four months. Bigger centres in towns and cities will give the jab to as many as 100,000 people over the same period.

Ten people have so far died from swine flu in France and its overseas territories. The government estimates that the number of cases is rising by about 3,000 a week.

Despite the growing numbers, the majority of French people say they are still not worried about a potential outbreak.

In a survey of 1,000 people by Le Figaro Magazine, 64% said they were not worried – roughly split between “not at all” and “not much”.

Only 7% were very worried, and a further 29% were slightly concerned.

Some 78% said they were confident that France was well-prepared to deal with an eventual outbreak.

The death rate so far – 10 out of 35,000 confirmed cases – is lower than that of seasonal flu, which kills on average one in 1,000 people each year.