Getting flu jab a ‘wise thing to do’

As strict social distancing measures continue, a question has been raised among Marlburians — why should I bother with the flu vaccine if I’m social distancing?

And while we don’t yet know when the country will move to level 1, the Government’s Covid19 website says a 1-metre social distance will be maintained.

Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious respiratory illness, caused by strains of the influenza virus. Ministry of Health data shows 52,298 vaccines have been distributed to the Nelson Marlborough region as of April 30, up from about 30,000 the same time last year.

Renwick Medical Centre GP Dr Buzz Burrell says there are very good reasons why you should still get the flu jab: move to alert level 2, interactions between people are likely to increase.

Alongside the onset of winter, it is ‘‘human nature’’ for people to spend more time inside, Burrell says. ‘‘Almost any building that has got more than one human being in it is going to be at risk of air sharing.

‘‘As a rule of thumb, if you’re sharing the air with someone, it’s likely you’re going to be sharing the [influenza] virus.’’ ‘‘It’s always there,’’ Burrell says. In winter, the number of influenza cases increases because people congregate indoors.

‘‘But it’s never zero. As it gets cold and damp and horrible, people move from outdoors to indoors and start breathing the same air.’’

In other words, you’re a lot less likely to catch flu on top of a hill, than you are inside, he says. sharing of flu

Renwick GP says.

‘‘To a certain degree, one could argue locking down the border might mean there is some herd immunity to the flu viruses we’ve got, but the flu virus is always mutating anyway.

‘‘That’s why the flu vaccine is changing from year to year.’’ viruses, the ‘‘If we acquire the flu, and then in addition to that, get exposed to the Covid-19, the risk of dying suddenly goes up enormously,’’ Burrell says. ‘‘We want to avoid adding insult to injury.’’

Getting the flu jab is an ‘‘incredibly sensible and wise thing to do’’, he added.

Vaccinating against the flu is a ‘‘powerful’’ tool to stop individuals and the community contracting the flu, Burrell says.

‘‘Anyone getting a flu jab, is not only protecting themselves, they’re taking one for the team."

In March, Health Minister David Clark outlined the flu vaccination campaign, touted as the biggest New Zealand has seen.

‘‘While the flu vaccine will not protect you against Covid-19 it will help to ‘flatten the curve’ of demand on our hospitals this winter,’’ Clark said at the time.

Influenza is a moving target for vaccines. Each year, up to four different strains circulate, and they are constantly evolving to escape our immune system.

So rather than childhood jabs giving long-lasting immunity, we need annual flu shots to provide optimal protection against influenza. To be effective, early research showed the vaccine needed to be matched to the circulating strains, and to be able to stimulate a response from the immune system.

The process to produce modern influenza vaccines now occurs on a much more refined and industrial scale. Hundreds of thousands of influenza viruses are collected by hundreds of national influenza centres around the world.

From these, four strains are selected for the annual flu vaccine, based on the viruses that are circulating at that time, how well the vaccines activate the immune system, how the strains are evolving, and the effectiveness of previous vaccines.

More than half a million Kiwis have had their flu jabs this year

Last week, the Government announced the 2020 flu vaccine programme has seen record numbers of New Zealanders vaccinated, with 587,000 vaccines already administered compared to 290,000 at the same time last year.

New Zealand ramped up the number of flu jabs available this year by nearly half a million after last year saw record demand when 1.36 million doses were administered – resulting in nationwide shortages.

Despite an increase in stock, doctors’ clinics around the country reported they were running out of flu vaccine, leaving atrisk groups unimmunised.