The French public health authorities kicked off their pandemic influenza vaccination programme today.

More than 1,000 centres opened their doors to vaccinate the approximately 6 million people deemed most at risk from the A (H1N1) flu virus. Public Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot called on everyone to get themselves vaccinated and said mobile tams of doctors would be sent to vaccinate homeless people.
 

Recent opinion polls indicate that the majority of the population is not planning to get a flu jab. Just 20 percent of the French population said they planned to inoculate themselves; the other 80 percent said no, citing concerns about possible side-effects from the vaccine. So far at least a million people have been infected with pandemic influenza and 49 deaths have been reported.