About 100 low and middle income nations will start receiving the first deliveries of H1N1 flu vaccines donated by drug companies and governments as early as November, World Health Organization officials announced on 12 October. Healthcare workers have been designated the highest priority target group.

Marie-Paule Kieny, director of WHO’s vaccine research initiative, told reporters, “The director general of WHO will approve, most likely today, a list of countries who will be the beneficiaries of these donations.”

The countries on the WHO list currently don’t have access to pandemic vaccine, said Dr Kieny. She said the agency is finalising guidelines for introducing the vaccine

“The principle for the deployment of the vaccine will …