Expected run on flu shot: purchased additional vaccines

SOEST About six million elderly people will receive an invitation to the annual flu shot in October and November. More than half of the over-60s opted for such a vaccine during the 2018/2019 flu season, according to the most recent figures of the National Flu Prevention Program Foundation (SNPG). In the municipality of Soest, that percentage was 55.1 percent of the over-60s.

On the National Flu Shot Day, this Wednesday, the Dutch Influenza Foundation pays special attention to the importance of the flu shot in times of Covid-19. The elderly and the vulnerable can opt for such a vaccine, and the RIVM expects that as a result of the corona outbreak many more people than usual want an annual flu shot. The organization manages the vaccinations and has 15 percent more vaccines purchased. There is a chance that this is still not enough, although RIVM does not yet know whether shortages will actually arise.

EPIDEMIC The ‘flu season’ has not yet started. The period in which most people get the flu usually runs from November to March. In the elderly and chronically ill, influenza can lead to pneumonia or heart problems, among other things. The flu vaccine reduces the chance of getting sick. In everyday parlance, all kinds of things like a cold, cough and fever are called ‘flu’. However, the vaccination protects against ‘real’ flu, which is caused by the influenza virus.

The proportion of elderly people who were vaccinated at the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 varies from about a quarter in Staphorst and Urk to about three quarters of the over-60s in Ten Boer in Groningen, Sint Anthonis in Brabant and Kerkrade in South Limburg. Furthermore, no clear regional pattern is visible with regard to the percentage of vaccinated elderly. View in the map below per municipality what percentage of the over-60s received the flu shot in the winter of 2018/2019.

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