Free Nasal Flu Shots for Most Brits

The U.K.'s Department of Health and Social Care Media Centre recently reconfirmed it would offer a nasal influenza vaccine for the 2023-2024 flu season.

On July 6, 2023, it was announced that over three million pupils in secondary school years, 7 to 11, will be offered a nasal spray flu shot through their school's vaccination program beginning in early September 2023.

Consent letters will be sent to parents and guardians before the school clinics with information on the flu vaccination. School-age immunization providers will deliver the vaccine through the autumn term.

Those not attending school, such as home-schooled parents and young people, can obtain their flu vaccine with community clinics.

In addition to directly protecting kids receiving the nasal flu shot, the expansion indirectly protects more vulnerable groups by reducing the spread among the wider population, reducing the number of people falling ill with influenza, and easing the burden on the U.K.'s NHS.

Additionally, the following groups will be eligible for a free flu vaccination from September 2023:

• those aged 65 years and over
• those aged six months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book, chapter 19 (Influenza))
• pregnant women
• all children aged 2 or 3 years on August 31, 2023
• primary school-aged children (from Reception to Year 6)
• those in long-stay residential care homes, carers in receipt of carer's allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• frontline workers in social care settings

Flu vaccines available in the U.K. for the 2023 to 2024 season are listed at this link. AstraZeneca's Fluenz® Tetra (FluMist®) is a live quadrivalent vaccine containing four vaccine virus strains.

And for the U.S. market, flu shots are listed at this link.

As of early July 2023, the U.K. reported that influenza activity remained stable from most indicators, and no influenza outbreaks were reported in week #26 in England.

As of July 10, 2023, influenza seasonality trends are posted by Precision Vaccinations.