Health chiefs drew up a contingency plan for a flu pandemic in 1997, which included a widespread vaccination programme, the possible closure of schools and restricting international travel. The plans have been revealed in archived papers which state that medics believed a pandemic was “imminent” and was likely to emerge in the Far East. The files show that the Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety received a UK-wide Contingency Plan for Pandemic Influenza in March 1997. In response, then senior medical officer for Northern Ireland, Dr Elizabeth Mitchell, drafted a contingency plan for the region in December 1997 to assist the local health service in preparing draft arrangements. The plan states: “Immunisation with appropriately formulated influenza vaccine can reduce the impact of influenza, particularly among those population groups most at risk of serious illness or death.

Source: The Herald December 29, 2021 00:20 UTC