The Department of Health (DoH) has announced that the swine flu vaccination programme will be extended to children aged over 6 months and under 5 years. This age group is more likely than other groups to be hospitalised if they become ill with swine flu and young children also have high rates of admission to critical care. The DoH is working with the BMA and NHS organisations to agree the details of how the vaccine will be delivered once GPs complete the vaccination of priority groups.

Population estimates for this age group are as follow:

• 3,214,650 aged 6 months to <5 years in UK of which 2,718,150 in England (including those in at-risk groups).

• 3,064,500 aged 6 month to <5 years in UK not in risk groups of which 2,591,200 in England not in risk groups.