A swine flu vaccination¹ campaign will be launched in the autumn, but only certain at risk groups, including pregnant women, will be given the jab.

猪流感疫苗接种活动将于今秋展开，但是只有包括怀孕妇女在内的特殊群体才可接受注射。

Those with underlying² health conditions up to the age of 65 have been identified as the first priority in the UK followed by pregnant women.

Health and social care workers will also get the jab（戳，刺）, meaning about 14m people will be immunised by December.

The government has yet to decide whether everyone should be given it.

There are contracts in place for 132m doses of the jab - enough for the whole population as people will require two shots.

Nearly 55m doses should be available by the end of the year, compared to the 15m ordered annually³ for seasonal⁴ flu.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said the vaccine⁵ was going through similar safety testing as the seasonal flu vaccine.

He added: "We have a real chance to save lives if we can get the vaccine in place.

"We are putting up a real fight against this virus."

The vaccine programme is due to roll out as follows if it is granted approval by European regulators in late September or early October as expected:

• In October, those aged⁶ six months to 65-years-old in conventional at-risk groups for normal seasonal flu, such as those with diabetes⁷（糖尿病） or heart disease, will be vaccinated⁸.

• This will be followed by all pregnant women, subject to licensing⁹ arrangements and better information on when in the pregnancy¹⁰ the vaccine should be given.

• People living in households with patients with suppressed immune systems and those over 65 in conventional at-risk groups will then be eligible¹¹（有被选资格）.

• Front-line health and social care workers will then be vaccinated.

• By the middle of winter, the government hopes to have enough evidence to decide whether the campaign should be extended to healthy people.

Many people had expected children to be among the first wave of priority groups.

But experts ruled this out because while they have been the worst hit in terms of the number of cases it is mainly those with underlying health conditions that have developed complications.

Sir Liam said: "We have to protect the most vulnerable（易受伤害的） first."