Winter health: Who is most at-risk and eligible for a flu vaccine on the NHS?

Pharmacists are urging patients of all ages and ethnicities to get jabbed amid ‘triple-demic’ virus fears.

Transcript

00:00It's very interesting and it's a concerning statistic that flu uptick had reduced last

00:06year and it highlights why having a conversation like this is so important. So perhaps people

00:11are getting a little bit of pandemic fatigue, so feelings of demotivation to engage in protection

00:19behaviours against flu and there seems to be a reduced perception of risk, so maybe

00:24we're not taking it as seriously as we should.

00:26How important is it for, in particular, at-risk groups to get their flu vaccine this season?

00:31I would recommend practically everyone over the age of six months to go get vaccinated,

00:36but in particular those at high-risk groups should get vaccinated because they are the

00:40more vulnerable population, so that could include people aged over 65 years, pregnant

00:47women, young children and a range of clinical risk groups, for example, respiratory disease

00:53such as asthma or COPD, heart diseases such as heart failure, diabetes, so there is a

01:00range of lists, so I would urge everyone to speak to their pharmacist to see whether they

01:05are at that risk group.

01:06What are some of the common misconceptions or fears that prevent people from getting

01:10the flu vaccine and how can we address those?

01:13One that we hear quite regularly is the flu vaccine can give you the flu, so that is false,

01:17the vaccine contains inactivated or weakened viruses that cannot cause the flu. There's

01:22also the misconception that healthy individuals don't need the flu jab when, in fact, vaccination

01:27is important for everyone. The flu strain changes annually, so the World Health Organization

01:32monitors this, so the flu vaccination that you'll be getting this year is tailor-made

01:37for the flu strains that will be active and coming in this year, so it's important to

01:42get the most up-to-date ones so you have the best protection for the upcoming flu season.

01:47The sooner you get it, the better protected you will be against the flu season ahead.

01:52I urge those who are eligible to book their vaccine appointment as soon as they can, as

01:56it's the best way of protecting those who are vulnerable as winter approaches.