HSE asking midlanders to get the flu vaccine

The HSE is asking people in Midlands Louth and Meath to get the flu vaccine.

The HSE Midlands Louth Meath Community Healthcare organisation launched its campaign, this week,

Dr Una Fallon, Director of Public Health Medicine with the HSE’s Public Health Department in the Midlands said while interventions in place for Covid 19 such as social distancing, mask wearing and international travel restrictions resulted in extremely low flu activity levels globally in the last season, a lower level of population immunity against flu is expected in 2021 to 2022.

“Flu is unpredictable and it is not possible to know whether there will be a mild or severe flu season. However, we do know that the flu vaccine will give you the best protection against flu this season.

“We also want to avoid scenarios whereby people might become co-infected with flu and COVID-19 and the severe illness that may be involved. A high uptake of the flu vaccine, will help the health services during the winter to manage the demand on services from all lung infections, including flu, COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. It will also help those who are vulnerable to have a safer, healthier winter ”, she added.

Who should get the free flu vaccine?

This year, the flu vaccine is recommended for you and is free of charge if you are in one of these groups:

· Aged 65 and over

· A health care worker

· A child aged 2 – 17

· At any stage of pregnancy

· People with certain medical conditions which put them at increased risk from the complications of flu.

For a full list of recommended groups visit hse.ie/flu

It is important to get both the flu vaccine and the Covid-19 vaccine. The flu vaccine doesn’t protect against Covid-19. It is important to get both the flu vaccine and the Covid-19 vaccine. This is because flu and Covid-19 are caused by different viruses.

In Ireland, between 200 and 500 people, mainly older people, die from flu each winter. Every year around the world, flu causes between 3 and 5 million cases of severe disease and up to 646,000 deaths. Visit hse.ie for more information.