Flu season is upon us again and we are ready to start our vaccination programme for 2019/20
If you are eligible for a free Flu Vaccination, please contact the Practice and make an appointment with our Practice Nurse or Health Care Assistant. Please see the criteria below.
The national flu immunisation programme 2019/20
The national flu immunisation programme aims to provide direct protection to those who are at higher risk of flu associated morbidity and mortality. Groups eligible for flu vaccination are based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and include older people, pregnant women, and those with certain underlying medical conditions.
Since 2013, flu vaccination has been offered to children in a phased roll-out to provide both individual protection to the children themselves and reduce transmission across all age groups to protect vulnerable members of the population.
This coming winter, the only change to the eligibility criteria is the planned extension of the programme to school year 6 children. This means that all primary school aged children will now be offered the vaccine for the first time in England.
Therefore, in 2019/20 the following are eligible for flu vaccination:
· all children aged two to ten (but not eleven years or older) on 31 August 2019
· those aged six months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups
· pregnant women
· those aged 65 years and over
· those in long-stay residential care homes · carers
· close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
