UK To Buy Enough Flu Vaccine For All

The UK government plans to buy enough flu vaccine to cover all 60 million or so inhabitants of the country in event of a bird-flu pandemic.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said 120 million doses would be needed - two for everyone...

Sir Liam said that offering these "sleeping contracts" now should mean manufacturers can develop enough capacity to make a vaccine.

The CMO added that thousands of information packs were being sent to GPs, including information which can be given to patients.

Sir Liam said: "We cannot prevent a flu pandemic, but we can reduce its impact.

"One of the most effective counter-measures we can take against a flu pandemic is to make sure we develop and manufacture a vaccine as quickly as possible.

"We will use this vaccine to immunise the UK population and reduce the impact of a pandemic on society."

As part of their detailed contingency plan, the UK already has a stockpile of 2.5 million courses of anti-viral drugs - the same as the USA with three times the population - and has plans to purchase a total of 14.6 courses. Sir Liam said that Roche, which manufactures the drug, had originally agreed to deliver the full order by March 2007, but under government pressure, it had agreed to bring the deadline forward to next September.

What will those cunning socialists think of next?