Influenza: Vaccination
(asked on 6th June 2019) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the level of uptake of the most recent flu vaccine.
Cumulative influenza vaccine uptake is collected and evaluated by Public Health England (PHE) nationally and locally. The 2018 to 2019 season included the extension of the childhood programme to all those aged nine rising to 10 years old as well as the phased delivery of the newly licensed adjuvanted vaccine for those aged 65 and over.
The national school-age vaccination programme achieved the highest levels of vaccine uptake since it started (60.8%, 2,461,563/4,051,698 in 2018/19, compared to 59.5% in 2017/18 1,998,538/3,360,997). Vaccine uptake for the pre-school children’s influenza vaccine programme has also increased further compared to previous seasons. The following table shows uptake figures for 2018/19 and 2017/18.
Uptake in adult target groups was similar or slightly lower compared to recent seasons and further work is needed to identify underpinning reasons so that uptake can be improved.
Comparison of flu uptake in groups vaccinated in general practice.
Group | 2018/19 | 2017/18 |
65 and over | 72.0% 7,260,596/10,087,873/- | 72.9% 7,309,125/10,032,613 |
At risk | 48.0% 3,276,592/6,820,919 | 49.7% 3,353,724/6,742,316 |
Pregnant | 45.2% 293,359/649,233 | 47.0% 318,057/676,159 |
Two and three year olds combined | 44.9% 593706/1,322,663 | 44.0% 585791/1,330,150 |
The frontline health care workers with direct patient care saw the highest uptake since the programme started in 2002/3 (70.3% in 2018/19 738488/1,051,038).