A million swine flu jabs to region

More than a million swine flu vaccine jabs are to be given in South Staffordshire during the autumn – with everyone getting two injections.

The whole 615,350 population covered by South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust will be vaccinated.

The trust is the first in the region to reveal the mass vaccination plan but others are set to follow suit.

John Wicks, who has been appointed flu lead director, told the trust board yesterday that the 1.2 million injections would be on top of the normal flu vaccination programme offered each winter.

The second injection will follow three weeks after the first.

The trust is expecting 184,650 cases of swine flu during the pandemic, with between 185 and 646 deaths.

Mr Wicks revealed six anti-viral collection points were now operating in the trust area, with about 80 to 100 people a day collecting Tamiflu.

He added there had been a sharp increase in cases, with South Staffordshire now one of the three areas in the West Midlands with the highest rate of infections.

The others are Coventry and Telford and Wrekin.

Mr Wicks added another bigger surge in swine flu cases is expected over the winter.