Pharmacy flu jabs for kids
PARENTS will be allowed to take their children to pharmacists for flu jabs for the first time in an unprecedented move as rising case numbers spark fears of a horror flu season.
The Royal Children’s Hospital said patient flu cases had increased by 500 per cent in less than two months, with a “significant” surge in the past fortnight leading to about one in six tests returning a positive result.
Chief of medicine Associate Professor Tom Connell said the hospital had recorded 100 new influenza cases since May 1, compared with 16 for the entire month of April.
“We’re obviously seeing an increasing number of presentations with all manner of respiratory tract viruses,” he said.
“We feel that we’re going to see an upsurge … over the next couple of weeks.
“The flu is circulating now. So it’s important to get vaccinated now because the vaccine takes about two weeks.
“It can be a very nasty illness in a certain percentage of children and nobody wants that for their child.”
Amid fears the flu season will be particularly bad for children, the state government will amend regulations paving the way for pharmacists to administer flu jabs to children five years and older.
Previously, pharmacists could only administer seasonal flu vaccine to adults.
The Andrews government expects the move to add an extra 600 flu vaccine providers, who will also be allowed to administer the Japanese encephalitis vaccine to eligible Victorians.
State Health Minister Martin Foley said the change was about making it even easier for “busy mums and dads to get their kids vaccinated from the flu”.
“So next time you’re at your pharmacy, roll up your sleeve and get vaccinated against the flu. It not only protects you, but also those around you,” Mr Foley said.
The appointment can also be used to get up to date with the Covid vaccine, with more than 87,000 children aged five to 11 overdue for their second Covid vaccine.
Victoria has already recorded more than 6400 influenza cases, compared with just 4972 known cases for all of 2020 and 110 in 2021.
Young adults aged 15-24 and children under the age of 10 are fuelling the surge.
The spike is already impacting childcare centres, with some plagued by staffing shortages, leading to requests for some parents to keep their kids at home.
With some centres having half their staff home sick, Australian Childcare Alliance president Paul Mondo said there was no choice but to restrict the numbers of children attending.