LONDON (AFP) - – Britain announced plans Monday to vaccinate half the population against swine flu by year's end as Russian health officials warned the virus was now affecting all parts of Europe's largest country.
As dozens more British students were quarantined in Beijing over fears they may have A(H1N1), Health Secretary Andy Burnham told members of the London parliament that the government expected to receive the first supplies of a vaccine next month.
Russia, which had restricted the number of cases to single figures, urged all citizens to vaccinate themselves against the virus which Israel warned could hit a quarter of the population there within a matter of months.
Meanwhile the worldwide death toll gathered pace with Ecuador announcing seven new fatalities and Australia reporting three new swine flu-related deaths.
Britain is the worst-hit territory in Europe, with estimates of 55,000 new cases of the A(H1N1) virus last week.
Burnham told the House of Commons that two contracts had already been signed with manufacturers to supply enough vaccines for the four constituent nations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
"According to their delivery schedules, we should begin receiving supplies from August, with enough becoming available for at least 30 million people by the end of the year," he said.
National Health Service and social care staff would be among those in priority groups offered vaccination first, he added.
Should the swine flu epidemic worsen the British economy could contract 7.5 percent this year, the Ernst and Young ITEM Club group of economists said.
ITEM said the British economy would contract 4.5 percent this year, but if the A(H1N1) virus hit 50 percent of the British population and 0.4 percent of those affected died, it could shrink three percentage points more.
With China desperate to contain the virus, at least 178 foreign students and teachers were in quarantine in Beijing Monday, with 10 hospitalised after testing positive for the virus.
"We can confirm that a group of 107 British school children and teachers from various schools in the UK are being held in quarantine," the British embassy in Beijing said in a statement.
Meanwhile, at least 71 American students also were under quarantine at the same Beijing hotel, said Nicholas Phillips, a teacher from the US state of Oregon.
Phillips added there were other American students and teachers who had arrived separately, but did not know how many.
The British embassy said nine British children had been diagnosed with the virus and hospitalised while Phillips said one of his American students was in hospital.
China has responded aggressively to swine flu with temperature checks for arriving international passengers.
There have been around 1,500 positive cases of the virus there, although no deaths have been reported.
In Russia, public health chief Gennady Onishchenko said the government had registered "a sharp increase" in cases.
"The virus is now not just Moscow's property but also that of the regions. "I advise maximum vaccination," he added.
The ability of the virus to spread rapidly was highlighted in Croatia where the number of swine flu cases more than tripled.
EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou meanwhile said in Lisbon the EU's executive arm would help members among the EU bloc's 27 nations which as yet have no vaccine stocks.
Discussions were also starting for others including candidate countries like Croatia and neighbouring countries, she said.
Namibia meanwhile confirmed its first two cases, health officials announced Monday.
The virus first broke out in Mexico and the vast majority of the deaths have been recorded in the Americas.