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More than 100 million Chinese have been vaccinated against A/H1N1 flu, Health Minister Chen Zhu said Friday.

“We have achieved progress in the fight against A/H1N1 influenza,” Chen said at a meeting in Beijing, at which health workers were rewarded for their research into A/H1N1 flu vaccine.

So far, about 800 deaths from A/H1N1 influenza had been reported in China, far below the death rate in the U.S. considering the large population of China, Chen said.

U.S. authorities have confirmed more than 10,000 deaths from the flu.

But Chen warned it was still too early to say the virus had passed as cases were reported occasionally in other countries and places.

“China has more than 20 million doses of A/H1N1 vaccines in store, and pharmaceutical manufacturers are always ready for production,” Chen said, adding that was enough to cope with any new epidemic situation.

The A/H1N1 virus was first identified in Mexico in April 2009. More than 211 countries and regions have reported laboratory confirmed cases of the flu, including more than 18,000 deaths.

The government will introduce an indigenous vaccine for the H1N1 virus that causes swine flu by mid-May, said Sujatha Rao, Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare last week.

“The indigenous vaccine should be out by the middle of May,” said Rao on the sidelines of the International Conference on Health Systems Strengthening, being held in Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu.

The reason for this is that there may be new cases or incidence of H1N1 virus, Rao said.

“We’re expecting another one in September. We’re going to be prepared. We don’t want to be taken by surprise. We got away easy this time. It was a mild form of flu,” she said.

The indigenous vaccine has already been sent to health workers “to inoculate their own frontline workers.” The government is “advising” health care workers “to take the injection” for their own protection, she said adding that the government is monitoring the situation carefully.

As of March 28 this year, 1,443 people died in India because of swine flu, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Globally, swine flu has caused 18,001 deaths as of May 2 this year, according to the World Health Organisation.

-hindustantimes-

The H1N1 flu pandemic remains moderate and its effects are probably closer to those of 1957 and 1968 than the far more deadly 1918 version, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday.