With four weeks of the main winter vaccination programme to go, there is still time to have your vaccines.
Eligible groups being offered a Covid vaccine this year are people:
- living in a care home
- aged 75 and over
- who have a weakened immune system
This winter, flu vaccine is being offered to people who are:
- aged 65 and over
- aged 18 to 64 with an eligible health condition
- pregnant
- living in a long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facility
- living with someone who has a weakened immune system
- unpaid or young carers
- frontline health or social care workers
- non-frontline NHS worker
- poultry worker or bird handler
- asylum seekers living in a home office hotel or B&B accommodation
- experiencing homelessness or substance misuse
- living in a Scottish prison
You may wonder why you are offered a flu vaccine every year and if the flu vaccines is effective at preventing you becoming seriously unwell. The vaccines help protect those most vulnerable from developing serious illness and being hospitalised and we strongly encourage all those eligible to get vaccinated against flu as soon as possible - vaccines remain our best defence.
The flu viruses that we see circulating around the world are constantly evolving in a process known as ‘antigenic drift’, and the vaccines are updated for every season to try and predict which strains should be used to make the vaccines.
Sometimes, flu viruses continue to evolve after the vaccine strains have been selected and vaccines have been manufactured. This means they no longer resemble the vaccine strains as closely as we’d like. This has happened for one of the virus strains this season. Even when drifted strains have emerged in the past, the vaccine typically still provided protection against severe illness caused by the affected strain, with only a small reduction in effectiveness, and each vaccine also gives protection against the other two strains in the vaccine recommended by WHO (World Health Organisation).
In light of the concerns around the drifted strain this season, UKHSA (United Kingdom Health Security Agency) has rapidly assessed how well vaccines are working by studying whether people who have been vaccinated are less likely to attend hospital with flu. Their analysis shows that this season’s flu vaccines are offering effective protection against severe flu and similar levels of protection to other years. Further information can be found here How well will I be protected from flu this year with the current UK influenza vaccines? – UK Health Security Agency
Numbers of cases of flu are increasing earlier this year, and we may see this continue in the weeks leading up to and over the festive period. We recommend that everyone eligible come for their flu vaccine as soon as they can. The sooner you are vaccinated, the sooner you will be protected.
Kathleen Jamieson, Health Protection Nurse Specialist, said: “Flu has struck Scotland earlier than usual this year—a trend Shetland is likely to mirror in the weeks ahead.
Of all the winter illnesses, flu can be one of the most serious, especially for older adults, pregnant women, young children and people with long-term health conditions. Vaccinations are a key factor in protecting ourselves from severe illness. If you are eligible for a flu vaccine this year, please make an appointment or drop in to have it.”
If you are eligible and haven’t yet had your vaccines, please contact the Vaccination Team on 01595 743319 or email shet.vaccination-team@nhs.scot. You can also drop in to any vaccination clinic at Grantfield Vaccination Centre Monday- Friday between 10am and 12pm or 2pm to 4pm (except Monday 24 November).