Flu jabs for all children

VICTORIA is pushing for free flu vaccinations for children under five while also ramping up the immunisation of the state’s health workers.

As the record flu season has now claimed the lives of otherwise healthy young Victorians, the Andrews Government is demanding the Federal Government expand the National Immunisation Program to include flu shots for all children between six months and five years.

A roundtable meeting of the state’s health leaders has also seen Victoria overhaul its health worker immunisation program so that nine out of 10 health workers will be vaccinated against the flu within five years.

The push comes amid news Cobram mum Sarah Hawthorn, 33, is in an induced coma fighting for her life after contracting the flu while pregnant. Her baby boy was born five weeks’ premature last month and her worried husband Robert is maintaining a bedside vigil at the Alfred Hospital.

At least 10 people have died from complications from the flu in just over a month, including eight-year-old Rosie, whose family described her as an “angel”.