With the government planning to introduce H1N1 vaccine by December this year, a crucial meeting to discuss the scientific rationale related to the new vaccine will be held between health experts and manufacturers on October 13.

The manufacturers — Novartis, Glaxo SmithKline, Baxter and Sanofi Pasteur which have agreed to provide the vaccine — will have to undergo a “safety check” here before they are finally given the go-ahead to provide imported vaccines.

“India is pushing hard on a bridging study. Though the vaccine has been found to be safe abroad, we need to check how Indian population reacts to it. At the meeting we will decide the proportion of population on which trials will be conducted to check safety and efficacy of the vaccine. The committee of experts will meet and decide the scientific issues,” said Dr V M Katoch, director general, Indian Council of Medical Research.