Government ‘worried’ over flu vaccine uptake

By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

The Government is “worried” about the number of people who are not vaccinated against flu, Fianna Fáil minister Patrick O’Donovan has said

Speaking during Leader’s Questions on Thursday, he said: “We’re worried about the amount of people that could still get the flu vaccine.

“Well over three-quarters of the people in hospital at the moment with the flu aren’t vaccinated, that’s a concern.”

He was responding to a question from Labour’s Conor Sheehan, who described the low uptake as “frightening” and said the Government had “failed” to address this with information and awareness campaigns.

He said the vaccine should be free and universal, and the Labour Party has been “saying this for ten years”.

He also said reports that an “enhanced” flu vaccine was not obtained because of cost reasons was “incredibly concerning”.

He said: “We know the enhanced flu vaccine outperforms the standard vaccine, particularly with older people, and this is madness, given the data we have from Australia.”

Australia’s flu season comes before Ireland’s, and data from strains in circulation there informs the development of vaccines for the northern hemisphere.

Mr O’Donovan described the vaccine as ”the best form of protection” and encouraged “anybody that still hasn’t got the flu vaccine to please go out and get it”.

He said he was vaccinated himself as he is “from a cohort of people where I’m immunosuppressed, I need to get it”.

In Ireland, the vaccine is free for a number of groups, including everyone over 60, children aged between two and seventeen, people with underlying medical conditions, healthcare workers and carers and pregnant women.