The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Every secondary school pupil in South Holland and some of primary age are to be offered a free flu immunisation by nasal spray this autumn.
Lincolnshire is one of 12 areas to run the pilot programme nationally. Across England 700,000 schoolchildren will be offered the vaccine.
Nurses from Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust will visit every secondary school in the county to administer the nasal flu vaccine to pupils in years 7 and 8.
The first of the visits – which will also include some primary schools – has not yet been scheduled but the programme is due to begin in early October.
NHS England said: “The pilots are an important addition to the national programme and are being carefully planned for the second year running. They are helping clinicians to understand the best way to implement the programme nationally, ensuring a successful and sustainable programme can be set up in the future, vaccinating children and young people to protect them and the wider population.”
The vaccine, called Fluenz Tetra, is said to be safe, simple, and easy and was piloted successfully in Leicestershire last year. Because it’s a nasal spray, it is quick, painless and doesn’t involve needles.
The vaccine is expected to be introduced nationally in a few years.
NHS England added: “The Department of Health decided to extend the national flu programme to all children from the age of two to less than 17 years.
“This is being phased in, and the pilots are determining the best approach to implementing the programme for school-aged children, so that the programme can be implemented efficiently and sustainably, without putting pressure on other essential services.”
