Consider Your Vaccination Schedule

* 15 March 2021 *

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, working towards a vaccine has been the focus of the immunology community worldwide. The international collaboration and speed to market has exceeded anything seen before and in just over a year from the virus reaching Australia, our vaccination program has begun. It’s astounding!

But let us not forget about the flu vaccination.

Flu (influenza) was responsible for 430 deaths in Australia in 2019, 900+ deaths in 2018 and over 1,100 deaths in 2017, our worst year in recent times.

Globally, there are an estimated one billion cases annually, 3 to 5 million severe and between 290,000 to 650,000 resulting in death, every year (WHO).

The 2020 flu season began the same way as 2019, and with no respite over the summer months, there were already 36 flu deaths by March in Australia.

And that is when the trajectory changed. There were no further flu deaths here in 2020: 8.8 million Australians had the flu vaccination, up by two million on the previous year.

The cause for the decrease in flu deaths was a result of actions taken to prevent COVID-19: more flu vaccinations, less contact with each other and improved infection control practices.

So do we really need to get the flu vaccination this year? And isn’t the COVID-19 vaccination more important?

It’s going to be a tricky time, because both are important. “People should not be lulled into a false sense of complacency about the influenza virus,” says TerryWhite Chemmart chief pharmacist Brenton Hart. “It is highly infectious and it is important for people to continue getting vaccinated and to plan now so they can be vaccinated for both flu and COVID-19 in a timely manner.”

The flu vaccination cannot be received within 14 days of receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. Therefore, if you are likely to be in Phase 2 of the COVID-19 rollout, starting in early May, it is highly recommended that you book your flu vaccination now for as early as possible.