Deputy medical officer of health, Dr Brian Parkin, receives the swine flu jab from occupational health manager Bev McAlister. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0868650)

Guernsey received its first batch of the vaccine earlier this week, but children under six months old will not be able to have the jab.

Deputy medical officer of health, Dr Brian Parkin, said this was because it was a new vaccine.

‘The vaccine has just been approved,’ he said.

‘Nobody wants to be a guinea pig and certainly no parent wants their child to be a guinea pig.

‘Therefore, this makes it difficult to get data about how it could affect them.’

He said it was important to note that young babies had a lot of natural protection from their mothers. They were also less likely to socialise with an infant child.

‘There may be certain circumstances, such as if a baby under six months old had a severe health problem, then it may be something that a parent and a doctor would want to talk about one-to-one.’

Dr Parkin was among the first people to receive the vaccination in the island yesterday.