The Minister for Health has announced that children as young as 10 are to be eligible to receive the flu vaccine from pharmacists this winter.
The Minister, Brad Hazzard said giving families more options to protect their children against flu was sensible, with the likely convergence of thea COVID-19 pandemic with the winter flu.
“Last year was the longest flu season on record and in 2017 more than 650 people in NSW died from flu-related conditions, and now we have COVID-19,” Mr Hazzard said.
“While the flu vaccine won’t combat COVID-19, it will help reduce the severity and spread of flu, which can lower a person’s immunity and make them susceptible to other illnesses,” he said.
“By allowing pharmacists to administer privately-purchased flu vaccines to people aged 10 years and over, families now have more choice when booking-in for a flu jab.”
Mr Hazzard said the previous minimum age to recieve a pharmacist-administered flu vaccine was 16.
He said approximately $130 million had been allocated to the 2019-20 Immunisation Program budget, including Commonwealth and state vaccine.
He said amendments to the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 to lower the age that pharmacists could supply and administer influenza vaccine were expected to come into effect this month.
