Front line workers are urged to get the flu jab ahead of winter surge
FRONT line health workers in Northern Ireland have been urged to get their winter flu vaccination, after three quarters of staff skipped getting the jab in one health trust last year.
It emerged yesterday that just 29% of health care workers in the Western Trust heeded calls from the Chief Medical Officer to get vaccinated in 2019.
Dr David Irwin from the Public Health Agency said work was continuing to make it easier for staff working under pressure to get time for a vaccine appointment.
While the flu winter vaccine is not mandatory for front line workers, he said as an individual he would “actively encourage” staff to make time to protect themselves, loved ones and patients.
He was speaking to the BBC’S Nolan Show, which reported on the low up-take at the Western Trust.
Stormont currently has a target of vaccinating 75% of vulnerable health groups below the age of 65, but just 58% of that group received it last year while the proportion of at-risk under-65s fell by 13% between 2015 and 2020.
The UK government has also pledged to double flu vaccinations this year from 15m to 30m, with Northern Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael Mcbride estimating that one million will be available here.
In Northern Ireland, the flu vaccination programme will be extended to:
Household contacts of those who received shielding letters during the Covid-19 pandemic;
Staff in independent care and nursing homes;
And children in school year 8. The programme may be further expanded later in the year to include those in the 50-64 year old age group, starting with the oldest first.
With the surge in demand expected, the SDLP’S health spokesman Colin Mcgrath said a huge effort would be needed to increase capacity.
“It seems to be that the medical advice being offered is the uptake of this year’s winter flu is critical,” he said.
“Not only will it prevent an additional strain on the health service, people getting winter flu
lllwill also be more vulnerable to catching coronavirus.
“I do think there needs to be a discussion about the capacity. There has been talk today about drive-through vaccinations and
“I do think this is the sort of infrastructure that we’re going to have to be looking at to deliver this in order to ensure there is the maximum uptake.
“Not everyone is going to feel safe about going into a clinical setting at the moment, so perhaps that will be more acceptable to people.”
On encouraging more front line health workers to get the flu jab, he added: “Obviously the worry for them will be the impact of a potential second wave of coronavirus.
“So we need to make sure more people aren’t being sick for regular reasons, enabling them to be fully functional to fight any second wave.
“It’s also vital they don’t have a lower immune system when working in clinical settings.”
On the scale of the challenge, he said: “It’s no small obstacle, in Northern Ireland we’re looking at trying to get close to two million people immunised.
“So we will need large-scale, almost medical camps set up in places to access the vaccine. In a way it will also be a practice run for when we hopefully do get a Covid-19 vaccine.”
Mr Mcgrath said the fast response earlier this year to setting up a Nightingale hospital in Belfast was an encouraging sign.
He added: “When we put our minds to it I’m very sure that we can achieve massive things.
“I’ve every faith we can do that but we would certainly want to see evidence that we’re progressing towards that quickly.”
This week, experts have also warned that complacency over the flu jab could risk overwhelming the NHS across the United Kingdom.
Analysis showed a decline among vulnerable groups in England to getting the vaccine.
Local authorities in England had an average of 45% of people with serious health conditions under 65 getting the jab, a 50% drop since 2015. In Northern Ireland the respective figure for vulnerable groups under-65 was 58% — the target here is 75%.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said this week: “The vaccine is more vital than ever.”