The first patients in Bristol have had their swine flu jabs as part of the vaccination programme.

People with health conditions such as asthma, heart disease and diabetes are among the priority groups that will receive their inoculations over the coming weeks.

Pregnant women are also in the high-risk group and yesterday doctor Julie Dando was one of the first to be vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.

She received the jab at the Broadmead Medical Centre in the Boots store yesterday.

Deliveries of the vaccine have started arriving at surgeries across the wider Bristol area and priority patients are being contacted to call them in for the inoculations.

More than 11 million people in England are eligible for the jab because they fall into at-risk groups.

Figures from the Health Protection Agency state that there were an estimated 78,000 new cases of swine flu in England in the past week.

There are currently 751 people in hospital with the virus, of which 157 are in intensive care and the number of deaths in England now stands at 97, with seven in Wales, 25 in Scotland and eight in Northern Ireland. The UK total is 137 deaths.

Swine flu is generally a mild illness but people with health conditions and pregnant women are more vulnerable to complications.

Ms Dando, 34, of Downend is 28 weeks pregnant.

She said: "Given my background I was interested to look at some of the information myself and make a decision.

"I looked at the Department of Health website and spoke to some of my colleagues and once I had gone through the process I felt it was the right thing to do and the best thing for my baby.

"Obviously it is a personal choice, but I would say to at-risk groups and pregnant women, seriously consider having the vaccine and have a chat with your GP."

She said that it felt like any other jab she has had, and if anything was "milder than expected" and she did not notice any side effects.

The vaccination programme is due to be rolled out over the course of the next six weeks.

Bristol director of public health Hugh Annett, who is also in charge of flu treatment in the area, said that at-risk patients will start to receive invites to attend for their vaccines over the next few weeks.

He said: "We want people to know that because this is a new vaccine and practices are only getting their allocation a bit at a time, the programme will run for some time.

"We want to reassure people that while the programme has started, they may not hear from practices immediately. It may be two or three weeks."

Dr Hugh Annett said that the swine flu vaccine has the same basic structure as other flu vaccines, such as those for seasonal flu.

He said: "Although the swine flu vaccine is new in terms of the antigenic properties, in terms of the other properties it is similar to the seasonal flu vaccine we have seen for many years.

"We know from the seasonal flu vaccine and tests on this vaccine that it is a safe vaccine.

"We want to encourage at risk groups to get the vaccine. They are the people we know that if they get flu they have a higher risk of complication, but swine flu is still a mild illness for the vast majority of people."

Frontline health staff working for the NHS in the city along with social care staff at the council are also being vaccinated to minimise the spread of the virus to at-risk patients.

Director of public health for South Gloucestershire, Dr Chris Payne, said: "It is very important that we offer the swine flu vaccine to our frontline health and social care workers and all the other at- risk groups.

"Although swine flu is a mild illness for the majority of patients, for some it can be serious. I would therefore encourage everyone in the at- risk groups to take up their offer of a vaccination."

Sidwell Lawler, swine flu vaccination lead for NHS North Somerset, said: "We want to encourage as many pregnant women as possible to have the swine flu vaccination.

"We know that pregnant women can develop serious complications from this virus and the vaccination can provide valuable peace of mind and protection for them, their unborn child, their partners and families."