Flu form alert
Parents are being urged to return their children’s flu vaccination consent form as soon as possible to ensure they are protected this winter.
This year’s childhood flu vaccination programme will see over 2,000 schools across Scotland offer the free nasal vaccine to more than 450,000 primary school pupils.
Health professionals are reminding parents of the benefits of the free nasal vaccine as latest figures reveal over a quarter - 27 per cent - of the children eligible didn’t receive the vaccine last year.
As no child will receive the vaccination without consent, the importance of returning a completed form, which has been sent home in school bags, has been highlighted in a bid to ensure more children in Scotland are protected.
Linda de Caestecker, director of public health at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said:“It may seem very early to be thinking about flu.
“However, we want to immunise as many children – one of the most vulnerable groups - as possible.
“Vaccinating approximately 85,000 primary school aged children across Greater Glasgow and Clyde over a nine week period is a massive operation for our teams.
“It is hugely important as the vaccine is the best protection we have against an unpredictable virus which causes severe illness and deaths each year.”
Dr de Caestecker, pictured, added:“If a primary pupil was immunised against flu last year it is important they get the vaccine again this year, as the virus changes every year. Therefore a different vaccine has to be made every year so annual re-vaccination is necessary.
“I’d urge parents and carers to return the completed consent form as soon as possible. Flu needs to be taken seriously – it’s not the same as the common cold and the virus can have an immediate and severe effect.”