§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the currently available influenza vaccination in offering protection against Fujian flu. [142966]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 9 December 2003]: The Chief Medical Officer asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to 886W review current flu policy and effectiveness of the vaccine. At its meeting on 10 November 2003, the JCVI agreed that the current vaccine is expected to offer some cross protection against the Fujian-like strain and should give good protection against the virus strains in the vaccine.