Balo St Medical Centre general practitioner Dr Les Woollard said the program should be up and running by September 30, with vaccinations to be available in Moree by the second week in October.

Dr Woollard said people needed to make an informed choice whether or not to receive the free vaccine, as the normal winter flu season had passed, and like all vaccines, there was a risk associated.

He said if everyone who received a normal flu vaccine turned out for the swine flu vaccination, it would account for a “significant proportion” of the local population.

“People need to make a personal decision” whether or not to get the vaccination, Dr Woollard said. He said people with any chronic diseases, including heart and lung diseases or diabetes, and pregnant women needed to seriously consider receiving the vaccine.

The Swine Flu vaccine was expected to provide eight to 12 months of immunity, Dr Woollard said, although the NSW Department of Health would be releasing their annual broad spectrum flu vaccine in February 2010.

People who still wanted to receive the swine flu vaccine, along with the normal flu vaccine, should probably get both, Dr Woollard said, as he did not know if the vaccine in February would contain anything to deal with the Swine Flu virus.

Dr Woollard said his medical centre had received calls from several local community members concerned about Swine Flu.

Moree resident Bonita Tyson said she would take the vaccine if she was in an associated risk group, and had never taken a flu vaccine.