MEDICAL DIRECTOR IN VACCINATION APPEAL

PEOPLE have been urged to get their flu jabs as a leading clinician warned it could still be a serious, potentially even fatal, illness.

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT

Stockton Council’s health and wellbeing board heard how the NHS and other partners were campaigning for people to take up flu and Covid jabs after numbers had declined.

Councillors spoke of confusion among residents with changing eligibility for vaccinations, which can be booked through the NHS website or by calling 119 free.

Professor Deepak Dwarakanath, medical director for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Please, please get your flu vaccine, however young and fit you are.

“I have seen people in their 40s end up seriously ill and on ventilators. Flu still sadly does kill people. And I think people still associate flu with a bit of a headache, a runny nose and feeling rough for a couple of days - yes, for the majority it is but it can actually be life-threat-ening.”

“Flu vaccine rates over the last three years have dropped off and are a concern to us in the trust. Obviously if staff get flu they can transfer it to more vulnerable patients and they will be off work and cause staffing issues. So it is really critical.”

The NHS has been running a staggered flu vaccination, which started for some groups in September before a flu and Covid roll-out in October.

People aged 75 and older, people with a weakened immune system and older care home residents are eligible for free Covid vaccinations, which are available at walk-in sites or pharmacies.