been a particular focus for critics citing the uneven and suboptimal uptake across countries. Development of a pandemic vaccine was a scientific success, but limited availability until after the autumn/winter wave had nearly peaked in the Northern Hemisphere contributed to lower coverage than anticipated [33] . Vaccination coverage depended on many factors, including availability, preordering, licensing and bureaucratic hurdles, logistics, convenience, and, most crucially, public and professional perceptions. This pandemic presented a particular risk communication challenge, since while infection usually results in mild illness, occasionally it is lethal, even in the young and previously healthy despite optimal treatment [34] [35] [36] . In the absence of any excess risk of serious side effects compared to annual seasonal vaccines [37] (despite the intensive effort to look for such) the benefits of immunisation far outweighed any potential down-sides at the individual level, particularly for those at higher risk for complications. Notwithstanding such evidence, the cost of pandemic vaccines was considerable and a loss of public confidence has sometimes been triggered by unsubstantiated media reports of serious side effects with a ''new vaccine'' that utilised the same manufacturing technology as for years of seasonal vaccines. Uptake among health care providers as role models has been mixed, as has their expression of the need for vaccination at all. This sometimes cast doubt in the minds of the public. Conversely, pandemic deaths in young healthy people abruptly changed public perception (such as in Canada, Romania, and Finland); supply and organisational issues then became crucial.