Low rates of flu vaccine take-up: Concerns for the season ahead
By Dr. Tim Sandle
December 2, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL
Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic said last week that it was ready to supply up to 10 million doses of its vaccine targeting mpox by the end of 2025
- Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP Ian Willms
As those in the northern hemisphere brace themselves for colder temperatures during the winter months, cases for cold and flu are, as expected, rising. Click Pharmacy has been reviewing cold and flu cases across England, revealing more than two thirds of adults (aged under 65 years) eligible for their flu jab have not taken up the offer.
Jana Abelovska, Superintendent Pharmacist at Click Pharmacy, tells Digital Journal that ‘real flu’ (as opposed to the common cold) is unpleasant and sometimes dangerous.
Abelovska states: “While for most people seasonal flu is an unpleasant condition that can be treated at home, for some people it can be very dangerous. It can make conditions like asthma and heart disease worse. Flu can also put vulnerable people at risk of developing complications like pneumonia, or inflammatory conditions like myocarditis and encephalitis.”
In the UK vaccines against influenza are commonly available, yet the take-up in 2024 is relatively low. Abelovska observes: “The NHS Seasonal Vaccination Programme makes the flu vaccine available for free to these people who are at additional risk – it was concerning to see that as of 4 November, fewer than a third of adults under 65, pregnant women and toddlers aged 2-3 had been in to get their free vaccine yet. While flu cases look quite low at present according to government and NHS data, we might see cases rise higher in the winter – we would urge everyone who is eligible for a flu jab to make that appointment.”
Flu cases
In terms of prevalence, 3.3 percent of flu tests have been declared positive on 10 November 2024. On the same date a year ago, only 1.3 percent tests came out positive. This suggests an increase in cases.
Click Pharmacy has compared positive flu tests by age group over the past four months. Once again using the 10th as the date, the age group showing the highest likelihood of testing positive in November was children aged 5-14, 9.5 percent of whose tests were positive – over twice as high as the month before. The group second most likely to test positive was teenagers and young people aged 15-24, at 6.3 percent. In third place, 5.4 percent of people aged 25-44 tested positive.
The research also looked at the number of people hospitalised with the flu in November using information from the Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) surveillance scheme. In the week ending 4 November 2024, the number of people hospitalised per 100,000 trust catchment population was 1.23.
London had the highest number of hospital admissions at 1.8 per 100,000. The region with the lowest number of hospital admissions for flu is the South of England at 0.8 per 100,000.The North of England and the Midlands and East of England have very similar numbers at 1.1 and 1.2 per 100,000 respectively.
Flu vaccines
The region that has received the highest number of flu vaccines through the NHS Seasonal Vaccination Programme is the Midlands, where 2,733,620 people have been vaccinated. The South East had received the second highest number of flu vaccines at 2,460,425, and the North East and Yorkshire was in third place, at 2,311,060. The data also compared the numbers of people who had received a free vaccine in the following three categories. Those aged over 65 had received the highest number of flu vaccines at 7,764,619, followed by children aged 2-3 at 4,31,892. School aged children from reception to Year 11 received 2,094,967 vaccinations.
The research also found that as of 4 November, 66.6 percent of those aged 65 and over had received their flu vaccine. However, in other eligible groups the uptake was lower, with 28.7 percent of pregnant women, 31.5 percent of eligible adults under 65 and 25.4 percent of toddlers aged 2-3 attending an appointment to receive their free vaccine.
The flu vaccine is available for free to people who belong to certain categories, including the age groups and categories mentioned above; frontline health and social care workers; and people with conditions including diabetes, asthma, kidney disease, or a lowered immune system. However, many high street pharmacies also make the vaccine available for everyone else too, as a paid for service.
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Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/life/low-rates-of-flu-vaccine-take-up-concerns-for-the-season-ahead/article#ixzz8tLEli1LU
As those in the northern hemisphere brace themselves for colder temperatures during the winter months, cases for cold and flu are, as expected, rising. Click Pharmacy has been reviewing cold and flu cases across England, revealing more than two thirds of adults (aged under 65 years) eligible for their flu jab have not taken up the offer.
Jana Abelovska, Superintendent Pharmacist at Click Pharmacy, tells Digital Journal that ‘real flu’ (as opposed to the common cold) is unpleasant and sometimes dangerous.
Abelovska states: “While for most people seasonal flu is an unpleasant condition that can be treated at home, for some people it can be very dangerous. It can make conditions like asthma and heart disease worse. Flu can also put vulnerable people at risk of developing complications like pneumonia, or inflammatory conditions like myocarditis and encephalitis.”
In the UK vaccines against influenza are commonly available, yet the take-up in 2024 is relatively low. Abelovska observes: “The NHS Seasonal Vaccination Programme makes the flu vaccine available for free to these people who are at additional risk – it was concerning to see that as of 4 November, fewer than a third of adults under 65, pregnant women and toddlers aged 2-3 had been in to get their free vaccine yet. While flu cases look quite low at present according to government and NHS data, we might see cases rise higher in the winter – we would urge everyone who is eligible for a flu jab to make that appointment.”
Flu cases
In terms of prevalence, 3.3 percent of flu tests have been declared positive on 10 November 2024. On the same date a year ago, only 1.3 percent tests came out positive. This suggests an increase in cases.
Click Pharmacy has compared positive flu tests by age group over the past four months. Once again using the 10th as the date, the age group showing the highest likelihood of testing positive in November was children aged 5-14, 9.5 percent of whose tests were positive – over twice as high as the month before. The group second most likely to test positive was teenagers and young people aged 15-24, at 6.3 percent. In third place, 5.4 percent of people aged 25-44 tested positive.
The research also looked at the number of people hospitalised with the flu in November using information from the Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) surveillance scheme. In the week ending 4 November 2024, the number of people hospitalised per 100,000 trust catchment population was 1.23.
London had the highest number of hospital admissions at 1.8 per 100,000. The region with the lowest number of hospital admissions for flu is the South of England at 0.8 per 100,000.The North of England and the Midlands and East of England have very similar numbers at 1.1 and 1.2 per 100,000 respectively.
Flu vaccines
The region that has received the highest number of flu vaccines through the NHS Seasonal Vaccination Programme is the Midlands, where 2,733,620 people have been vaccinated. The South East had received the second highest number of flu vaccines at 2,460,425, and the North East and Yorkshire was in third place, at 2,311,060. The data also compared the numbers of people who had received a free vaccine in the following three categories. Those aged over 65 had received the highest number of flu vaccines at 7,764,619, followed by children aged 2-3 at 4,31,892. School aged children from reception to Year 11 received 2,094,967 vaccinations.
The research also found that as of 4 November, 66.6 percent of those aged 65 and over had received their flu vaccine. However, in other eligible groups the uptake was lower, with 28.7 percent of pregnant women, 31.5 percent of eligible adults under 65 and 25.4 percent of toddlers aged 2-3 attending an appointment to receive their free vaccine.
The flu vaccine is available for free to people who belong to certain categories, including the age groups and categories mentioned above; frontline health and social care workers; and people with conditions including diabetes, asthma, kidney disease, or a lowered immune system. However, many high street pharmacies also make the vaccine available for everyone else too, as a paid for service.
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Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/life/low-rates-of-flu-vaccine-take-up-concerns-for-the-season-ahead/article#ixzz8tLEli1LU
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