Lhasa conducts 3rd round of free A/H1N1 vaccination

10:36, November 02, 2009

Lhasa conducts 3rd round of free A/H1N1 vaccination

The Lhasa City Government began on Oct. 30 to provide free A/H1N1 vaccination for the third time, which is expected to end on Nov. 6.

The local government conducted the first two rounds of vaccinations in October. Lhasa was given 113,014 vaccines. In the first round of the injection, 38.4 percent of the vaccines were used and the ration rose to 55.3 percent in the second round.

People receiving vaccines this time are mostly those not fit for the vaccine in the previous two rounds, including doctors and other medical staff, employees of bus companies, elders over the age of 60 and people working in the service sector in Lhasa.

A supervision team was set up with the staff from Lhasa's health, education and related departments to oversee the vaccination.

"Before we give people the vaccine, we will explain to them the type, functions, and possible side effects and inquire their health conditions," said an official of Lhasa's A/H1N1 Prevention Team. "They will be only vaccinated after they agree to and they are required to stay on the spot for another 30 minutes for further observation."

A pupil is injected the vaccine against the A/H1N1 flu in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Oct. 14, 2009.(Xinhua/Gesang Dawa)

China's top epidemiologist Zeng Guang on Thursday urged more people to be inoculated against the flu while reassuring the public about the vaccine safety.

He said a peak of the A/H1N1 flu outbreaks in China is expected between this winter and spring.

As of Saturday, more than 46,000 confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland, with 75 percent of the patients having recovered. The flu has caused four deaths on the Chinese mainland including one from Tibet.

An estimated 400,000 people in China had been inoculated with A/H1N1 flu vaccine, with no serious adverse reaction reported.

Source: Xinhuanet