Students across the Kingdom will be vaccinated against swine flu after the Haj break, said Suleiman Al-Shehri, director of medical services at the Ministry of Education. Parents will be sent official letters asking for their approval to have their children vaccinated, he said. Al-Shehri added that it was not clear whether students in Makkah and Madina will be vaccinated before the Haj starts and that this depends on the availability of vaccines. The Kingdom has received the first batch of the 11 million doses of vaccine it has ordered to combat the A(H1N1) flu virus. The Ministry of Health said that it will start to vaccinate all local pilgrims and those working in Haj related activities against swine flu next week, and will press ahead with plans to host millions of the world's Muslims despite a heightened pandemic alert.
