| Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon revealed yesterday the jab will be offered to all youngsters between six months and five years once people with underlying health problems have been vaccinated.
In Tayside, the programme to vaccinate priority groups is under way and is expected to accelerate over the coming weeks as increasing supplies of the vaccine make their way to GP surgeries.
Although NHS Tayside said there was no target date for the start of the under-5s’ vaccination programme, it is likely most of those in the priority group will have been offered the jab within the next month.
A spokeswoman said, “The plan is to get the priority groups finished by Christmas. GPs got their first dose of vaccine about two weeks ago and they have been organising vaccination sessions.
“Towards the end of those it is expected that the programme for the under-5s will start.”
From the start of next month, GP practices across Scotland will start calling forward around 260,000 youngsters for vaccination against the virus.
Ms Sturgeon said young children are more at risk of contracting the virus and the highest rate of hospitalisations has been in the under-five age group.
However, the vast majority of youngsters experience mild symptoms and recover relatively quickly.
Ms Sturgeon said consideration is now being given to vaccinating carers of elderly or disabled people.
Her announcement came as it was confirmed another person — an adult in the NHS Lothian area with an underlying health condition — had died of swine flu, bringing the toll in Scotland to 39 since the start of the outbreak in April. |
