Flu vaccination programme to be expanded – Donnelly

The seasonal flu vaccination programme is to be expanded for the coming year, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has announced.

The scheme will be made available for free to individuals over 60 years old and children aged between 2 – 17 years old.

Minister Donnelly said that children “be able to avail of a free nasal flu vaccine”.

An injectable vaccine will be available for other eligible groups, including those aged 60 and over, people with specific health conditions and healthcare workers.

In a statement, Mr Donnelly said that the measure “will help to ensure that those who are most vulnerable to the effects of flu will be offered protection”.

He described the expansion of the scheme as “particularly important” given “the pressure that flu cases and hospitalisations place on our healthcare service”.

He urged “everyone who is eligible for the vaccine to take up the offer once the programme commences”.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Colette Bonner said that vaccination is the “most effective means of protection”.

Dr Bonner said the expanision of the programme will help “to protect the population against flu and to reduce its spread in the community”.

“This extension is intended to further limit the burden on our health services for flu-related illnesses over the winter months,” she said.

Meanwhile the United Nations warned global childhood vaccination levels have stalled, leaving millions more children un-or under-vaccinated than before the pandemic.

World Health Organization vaccine chief Kate O’Brien told reporters that “We are off track”.

“Global immunisation coverage has yet to fully recover from the historic backsliding that we saw during the course of the pandemic,” she said.