Published Thursday, 15 October 2009
Vaccinations will begin on October 21 for frontline workers with jabs for at-risk groups soon afterwards.
On Thursday, Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said: "We have never seen levels of transmission like this before. This represents a very significant increase as compared to last week but I think we need to keep a sense of proportion and not create a sense of panic."
The past week saw an almost 60% rise in lab confirmed diagnoses of the virus, with 119 detected in the last seven days, according to the Department of Health.
This accounts for more than a fifth of the 565 positive samples detected in the region since the outbreak began.
With only a proportion of those with symptoms undergoing the tests, the actual number who have contracted flu is much higher.
GP consultations for flu and flu-like illness have jumped by 37% over the past seven days.
The age category with the highest incidence is the 5-14 bracket.
Four deaths have been linked to the virus in Northern Ireland and 280 people have been hospitalised.
Two other people from the region have died in England and Spain.
The first 11,000 doses of the vaccine arrived in the region earlier this week.
Chief Medical Officer Dr McBride said while the number being admitted to hospital had actually dropped in the last week (from 61 to 34) he expected it to rise again in the coming seven days as a consequence of the increased number of diagnoses.
"I think that there is a tremendous risk of complacency in relation to the significant public health risk that this virus still poses," he added.
"We need to ensure that we communicate that message clearly and consistently to the public to ensure that we protect the public for whatever lies ahead."
He stressed that most of those who catch swine flu will experience mild symptoms.
But he urged anyone with an underlying health condition or who is in one of the high risk categories - such as pregnant women, young children and older people - to contact their GP.