MILLIONS more Brits are set to get free flu jabs this autumn, the Government has announced.
The free vaccine programme might be expanded to include all secondary school children up to Year 11 in a bid to tackle a possible wave of infections.
Children need jabs up until they’re a teenagerAthena Picture Agency
This would include all children between the age of 11 -16.
Until now, only clinically vulnerable secondary school children were offered the jab.
However last year, secondary school children were offered the vaccine as a ‘temporary measure’ when experts feared a post-Covid lockdown flu surge was looming.
Flu vaccines will be available from September for children aged two and three on August 31, all primary school children, people aged 65 and over, pregnant women, unpaid carers, and frontline health and adult social care staff.
Vulnerable people and their close contacts can also get the jab.
The enlarged drive will build on last year’s expanded flu programme, which saw a record 20 million jabs being administered – out of the 33 million who were offered the jabs.
It comes as cases of flu is Australia – which typically serves as a predictor for the northern hemisphere – are soaring.
New figures suggest infections are soaring at rate 100 times higher than it was last year.
Last winter, the NHS saw the worst winter flu outbreak in a decade.
The pandemic lockdown is being blamed for the outbreak because people were shuttered away — creating a lower immunity to infections.
The flu crisis triggered a shortage of popular remedies Night Nurse and Lemsip.