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We now have nasal flu vaccines available for 2- and 3-year-olds. We’ve written to parents and carers this week inviting them to book an appointment for their child. We strongly encourage booking an appointment as soon as possible.

To book your child in, please call the Reception Team on 0191 281 4588 between 8.15 am and 6 pm, Monday to Friday.

The vaccine for young children is a nasal spray rather than an injection, so it’s needle-free and painless.

We will be holding clinics at No 200 Osborne Road on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th September, from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm. Appointments at other times at either site will also be available – when you call we can do our best to find a time to suit you.

Why getting vaccinated against the flu is more important than ever

Flu can be very nasty, especially for those who are more vulnerable to getting ill – the young, the old or people with long term conditions. For most people, it’s relatively short-lived, but for others, it can be fatal.

Vaccines are our best defence against flu, and while they’d don’t 100% guarantee you won’t get ill, we shouldn’t underestimate how effective they are.

Every Winter, flu and flu-related conditions put extra pressure on the NHS. Widespread vaccination programmes prevent avoidable hospital admissions and help to ease that demand.

We all know how much the pandemic has stretched the NHS this year. While services like specialist referrals and cancer screenings have restarted, another spike of COVID-19 coupled with flu could risk further disruption.

Vaccinations for other groups

More people than ever will be able to get a free NHS flu vaccination this year. The eligible groups are:

  • Everyone aged 65 or older, expanding to everyone aged 50-64.
  • All school children up to and including Year 7 will be offered the vaccination through their schools.
  • People who had been shielding from March to August, as well as all members of their household. 
  • Those who are at higher risk or clinically vulnerable.
  • Pregnant women
  • All frontline health and social care workers
  • Carers

Our plans for vaccinating all of these groups are dependent on the delivery dates of the vaccines, but provisionally we will be holding clinics in September and October. This will likely be for people over 65 in the first instance, and the clinics will be appointment only.

But it’s important to say that until we know when we will get the vaccines, we can’t yet confirm these plans. 

We’d ask patients to bear with us, and we will share full details of our plans and how to book yourself in once we can.