Pharmacies to offer flu spray vaccination to toddlers in England

Thousands of pharmacies in England will offer free NHS flu spray doses to toddlers for the first time this year.

The vaccination is given via a child’s nose and two and three-year-olds could previously access them at their GP surgery.

Around 4,000 pharmacies have signed up to deliver the vaccine to 1.2 million eligible toddlers from 1 October.

Both walk-in and booked flu vaccine appointments will be available as part of the NHS drive to increase vaccine uptake nationally.

NHS England stats show that last winter, there were more than 300,000 hospital bed days taken up by patients with flu – almost double the previous winter.

It’s a situation Health Minister Ashley Dalton said “we cannot afford a repeat of” this year.

The hope is that by vaccinating young children, they are not only protected from catching flu, but they will also not pass the virus on to others.

Flu vaccines are available on the NHS for:

• everyone aged 65 and over
• under 65s in clinical risk groups
• care home residents and carers
• close contacts of those who are immunosuppressed
• frontline social care workers
• health and social care staff
• children and pregnant women

The move to increase the use of pharmacies is part of a wider campaign by the NHS to improve vaccination rates.

In some areas with low uptake, vaccines will be delivered in nurseries and mobile vaccination buses will be deployed to help reach more vulnerable people of all ages.

“For busy families, it can be hard to fit everything in, but parents will now be able to pop into a pharmacy in their local high street or supermarket to get their little ones protected ahead of winter, when bugs tend to circulate,” said Duncan Burton, chief nursing officer for England.

“Flu can make young children and toddlers seriously unwell, and vaccination is the best way to shield them, so we’re making it easier than ever before to get the vaccine closer to home.”

Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, which represents about 6,000 independent community pharmacies, said the move to use pharmacies for toddler vaccinations was “excellent news”.

“Pharmacies are quick and convenient to access for patients and the government should use them for more NHS vaccination campaigns, if they are to maximise take up and prevent more serious illness.”