The FINANCIAL — TOKYO, A large-scale vaccination campaign against swine flu started in Japan on October 19, with priority given to medical staff, the country's health ministry said.
Some 77 million people, more than half of Japan's population, are to be vaccinated against the H1N1 virus by March 2010, the ministry said. Japan is expected to produce 27 million vaccine doses, with another 50 million to be imported.
Vaccination will be on a voluntary basis, with priority first given to medical workers, then from November to people suffering from serious diseases and pregnant women, and then children aged up to 10 years starting from mid-December. Other children, elderly people and infants' parents are to be vaccinated starting from January.
The average price of two shots required for protection against swine flu is about $60.
According to the latest report from the World Health Organization, as of October 11 there had been more than 399,000 laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza throughout the world, with over 4,735 deaths.
A large-scale immunization campaign is underway in the United States.
Russia has already started the production of two swine flu vaccines, with at least 35.5 million single doses expected to be produced by the end of the year.
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