Also at the meeting the Ministry of Health cited the World Health Organization (WHO) to note that Barbados in the Caribbean has recorded seven cases with both dengue fever and swine flu with one death.

According to the ministry, 38 people with swine flu have died nationwide since it was first detected here in May with the latest death recorded on Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City.

Nguyen Tran Hien, head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, on Wednesday announced that 1.2 million doses of H1N1 vaccines sponsored by WHO will arrive in Vietnam this December.

“At the moment we are reviewing and considering which groups of people are to be inoculated,” Hien said, noting that priority will be given to areas like cities and towns and those with high population density and infection cases.

The country will put the vaccines in use once the supply comes as committed to WHO, he added.

“The vaccine is urgent and WHO has suggested omitting some clinical trials, but important ones like those needed to ensure its safety are still included,” Hien said.

He also quoted WHO as saying that the vaccine is safe and not new, as producers have just introduced H1N1-related factors to production which has been applied for flu vaccines over the past 60 years.

Vietnam is also speeding up all necessary procedures to import another 500,000 doses of one-shot vaccines, according to Hien.

However, the official noted that acquiring the vaccine isn’t aimed at limiting the spread of the epidemic, but to decrease the chances of infection among high risk groups like people with chronic diseases and pregnant women.

Source: Tuoi Tre, VNA