Responding to the expansion of the flu vaccination programme, Cllr Paulette Hamilton, Vice Chair of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:
“Extending the free winter flu jab to as many people as possible is essential if we are to tackle two potentially deadly viruses head-on and prevent one seasonable and predictable virus creating the conditions for a second, more serious and unpredictable deadly second wave of COVID-19.
“We are pleased the Government has widened the criteria for a free jab and urge it to consider whether a free flu jab can also be offered to everyone else in the country this year.
“It is absolutely critical that all our health and care workers get themselves vaccinated, to protect both themselves and the people they look after including our elderly and most vulnerable, from a potentially devastating second wave of infections.
“Councils’ Directors of Public Health should oversee the wider rollout of the flu jab in their areas in order to use their local knowledge and expertise to ensure as many people as possible can get themselves vaccinated.”
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