Swedish toddlers set to receive swine flu vaccine

Currently, children under the age of three are only vaccinated if they are deemed to belong to a designated risk group.

In general, parents have been advised to abstain from having small children vaccinated because of a lack of information regarding the vaccine’s side effects on children under three.

However, the Medical Products Agency (Läkemedelsverket), which oversees Sweden’s vaccination programme, is expected to review the current regulations next week, the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper reports.

The review follows the receipt of preliminary results from the first vaccine study which show that there are no more side effects for young children than for other age groups.

Following the review, the vaccine will likely be made available to all children between six-months- and three-years-old.

“The recommendations for children under three will likely come within a few weeks,” Jan Liliemark, a professor with the Medical Products Agency, told Sveriges Television (SVT).

The primary motivation for changing the recommendations is that children under two-years-old are especially vulnerable, both when it comes to infection and risk of death.