The number of people going to their pharmacy to get a flu vaccine in 2018 has exceeded last year’s figures, with pharmacists having vaccinated more than 1.2 million people by December.

However, there has been a reduction in flu vaccination numbers at GP surgeries, according to the latest figures from Public Health England (PHE).

It revealed that 65 per cent of people over the age of 65 have been given their free flu jab in 2018, compared with 69 per cent by the same time in 2017. Similarly, only 41 per cent of pregnant women have gone for their vaccine, while this was slightly higher at 43 per cent last year.

Medical director of PHE Paul Cosford was reported by the Pharmaceutical Journal as saying: “It is even more important than ever that all those eligible take up the offer of the flu vaccine, especially before Christmas when many people will be gathering together with the added risk of spreading infection that this brings.”

He noted that the vaccinations available this year are “well-matched to the strains of flu likely to circulate”, therefore, it is definitely worth getting immunised against the illness.

While numbers at GP surgeries have fallen since last year, pharmacists are administering more jabs, increasing from 950,000 vaccinations by December 2017 to 1.2 million by the same month this year.

Having the flu vaccine is essential for those in high-risk categories (pregnant women, children, the elderly, and those with an underlying health problem), as the symptoms can be particularly nasty. They include a sudden fever, aching body, nausea, cough, and a headache, as well as pneumonia or even multi-organ failure, sepsis and asthma attacks.

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