00:00Children under the age of five will now be offered a free nasal spray flu vaccine.
00:04The flu mist is applied as one spray into each nostril as a gentle and painless alternative to the usual
00:11needle.
00:12The spray method will attempt to curb the overall falling rates of flu vaccination each year.
00:17It contains tiny amounts of weakened influenza strain and that helps train the body's immune system to work out how
00:27to respond.
00:27Children aged under five are at particular risk to complications from influenza, but in 2025 just one in four were
00:36vaccinated, according to the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance.
00:41We don't want to see young children in our hospitals over the winter and we think this takes away the
00:46fear of needles, makes it easier for mum and dad to be able to make that appointment and hopefully easier
00:51for our younger children.
00:52Each jurisdiction has slightly different availabilities, with New South Wales and South Australia funding the free treatment for children aged
01:00between two and four.
01:02Meanwhile, in Queensland, it will be offered to those for ages two to five.
01:06And in Western Australia, it will be for children aged two to 11.
01:11The mist vaccine will also be made available for purchase in ACT, Northern Territory, Victoria and Tasmania.
01:19Too many people are ending up in our hospitals during the winter season.
01:23Last year was a very long and extended winter flu season.
01:26What we want to do with this initiative is make health care as affordable and as accessible to young families
01:32with children as we possibly can.
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