Flu jab for ALL primary school pupils after 1.5million miss out
ALL primary school children will be offered the flu jab for the first time after more than 1.5million eligible youngsters missed out on the vaccine last year.
Experts said schoolchildren are ‘super spreaders’ of the virus – but that uptake is well below the target of 65 per cent.
This winter, an extra 600,000 children will be offered the vaccine after Public Health England expanded the schools programme to include all Year Six children, who are aged ten and eleven.
Children are given the vaccine in a nasal spray by healthcare workers at school, with their parents’ consent. Last winter, more than 4million primary school children were eligible for the vaccine, but less than 2.5million – 60 per cent – took up the offer. Among two and three year olds, who are vaccinated in their GP surgery, the rate was just 45 per cent.
Professor Yvonne Doyle, medical director at PHE, said: ‘This year, more vaccines are available and every primary school child will be offered a flu vaccine.
‘Children are “super spreaders” of flu. Flu vaccination not only protects the children but it also protects other, more vulnerable members of the community from a potentially horrible illness.’
More than 25million people – around half the population – will be offered the free jab this year. This includes all over-65s, pregnant women and people who work in the NHS. Health chiefs yesterday slammed ‘ irresponsible’ healthcare workers who fail to have the jab, warning they can spread the flu virus to patients.
They revealed that uptake is as low as 40 per cent among staff at some NHS trusts – despite the target of 90 per cent coverage. Last year, only 70 per cent of health and social care workers got the jab. The Government is reviewing whether or not to make it mandatory.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, said: ‘There is a very strong professional responsibility to be vaccinated.’ The vaccination programme will be under way by October 31 – the day the UK is set to leave the EU.
Professor Van-Tam said he does not anticipate delays in delivery of vaccines for children due to Brexit, and that jabs for the over65s are ‘on track to be fully delivered’ by the end of the month.
Health officials estimate there were 1,692 influenza-associated deaths last flu season. Officials have raised fears that the NHS faces a difficult flu season due to a deadly strain of ‘Aussie Flu’.
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director at NHS England, said: ‘ People might think that flu is just a cough or cold, but actually this serious illness can have devastating effects on people including causing death in some cases.’
‘Devastating effects’