Winter Flu Jabs - for or against?

Feel I should add that I am on methotrexate due to my RA and that does suppress the the bodies immune system so could have caused the problem with me contracting flu in the first place but I have been advised by the consultant to have the flu vaccine again this year.So I will

Just wondering ? Do you get a free flu jab if you don't pay for prescriptions? Or rather vice versa. I have an underlying condition so get mine free despite not qualifying for free prescriptions. Do you pay for the flu jab in say Scotland where prescriptions are free for everyone ? How much does it cost if you pay for it yourself ?

Gillybob, the list of people who qualify for free flu jabs is on the NHS website, under Flu Prevention (or you can ask at your GP surgery). From the NHS point of view, it is over 65s, those with conditions that make them vulnerable, and carers. A few employers (including the NHS) provide jabs for their staff.

So if you are not eligible, you pay privately. Some GP surgeries do it, but the most accessible are pharmacies. I think Boots is charging £13 this year.

I had my flu jab 2 weeks ago, but was told this years weouldnt cover the Australian one,that will be in next years, so whoever said it would is wrong
This years covers Swine flu and Avian flu.and one other which i cant remember, but not the OZ one
I have never had flu, but i dont want it either
My daughter has Chrones, so got hers free and one of my sons has a comprised immune system so got his free too

Crohns disease

You are correct valerie - I’ve been doing a bit of research and as Faye also pointed out this years vaccine will NOT protect against the Australian strain.

I have been given an appointment for flu jab for tomorrow. We are having a family get together and everyone is poorly, I am taking no chances.

gilly I had to pay for mine before I was diagnosed with asthma, I am also a carer for FIL and DM so given free,

Never had the flu jab but this year, yesterday in fact, I actually had one. I have never had the flu and can't remember the last time I had a cold or chest infection but around Christmas I am going to have my new knee and I don't want anything to get in the way of that. So I thought just in case...

Maybe I didn't make myself clear . Sorry.

I do pay for my prescriptions but got my flu jab free due to an underlying condition. I was just wondering for someone else I know .
Thank you for your replies .

Hi All, as I said earlier the Pharmacist at Boots said that the flu jab he was giving us covers 4 strains of flu - two A virus subtypes and two B types (whatever that means) he confirmed the Australian one was one of these. It was called Fluarix Tetra.

However you may be receiving a different brand that does not cover the Australian strain. We shall all have to face the waiting game ?

Grannysue your impression of the flu jab doesn't seem to be supported by gransnetters comments. A heavy cold is not the flu.

After WW1 there was a flu pandemic which is thought to have wiped out 1/5 of the worlds population.

I would rather benifit from any protection the flu jab can give me, it must be more than crossing my fingers,

NanKate ‘Fluarix Tetra’ means it contains four (tetra) subtypes of flu virus. The Australian outbreak was type H. Despite what your chemist has told you there simply hadn’t been time to manufacture a vaccine to specifically include the type H3 in this years vaccine - it was ordered months ago.

Here is a quote from Simon Stevens, CEO of NHS England

“Australia and New Zealand had just experienced a heavy burden of winter flu cases, raising concerns that Britain may experience the same in the next few months.

“The signs from Australia and New Zealand, who are just coming out of their winter, are that it has been a heavy flu season and many of the hospitals down there have struggled to cope,” Stevens told the Health and Care Innovation Expo in Manchester.

“The southern hemisphere has just experienced its worst flu season in many years, and previous experience suggests Britain may be hit by the same H3 strain this winter.

The World Health Organisation is now reviewing the efficacy of the flu vaccine used in Australia and New Zealand to prepare for the last winter. The NHS’s own annual campaign is due to start within weeks, using a vaccine ordered months ago. Questions may now be raised about whether it will prove effective if the same H3 strain arrives in Britain.”

Of course people who want to should have the vaccine but don’t rely on it to fully protect you. Older people in particular should take measures to help prevent themselves being infected, and they can also look at lifestyle changes which might give them the best change of boosting their immune systems too.

Take some vitamin D (& go outside on sunny days if you can - although it's not always easy to get enough vitamin D in the winter)

www.nhs.uk/news/food-and-diet/add-vitamin-d-to-food-to-prevent-colds-and-flu-say-researchers/

I am asthmatic with COPD so I have had flu jabs for years. Like another poster the only time I felt unwell was when I had the pneumonia jab as well but it passed off quickly.
I used to get at least four or five nasty colds every year but rarely get even one now. I think the last one was 18 months ago. I think it does offer a high level of protection and we had ours last week. Tiny sore lump on my arm for 24 hours but only felt it if I rubbed my arm.

I have had the flu a couple of times over the years and is not something I would like to experience again, so I always have a flu jab now. I was also given a pneumonia jab as well about five years ago which should last for ten years. This year I was invited for a shingles jab which initially I did"nt think necessary as I had shingles ten years ago (another very unpleasant experience) however I spoke to the practise nurse who told me you can get it more than once so took the advice and had the jab.

I asked my GP if he had the flu jab. He doesn't, so I don't.

I have it every year as I have in the past had pneumonia and chest infections. My lungs are my only weak point - I was born with bronchitis. If this can stop any URTI viruses, I'm happy to have it.

I returned recently from a 3 wk stay with daughter and family in Australia. We all caught the flu 3 days after I arrived! So my whole stay was dreadful. I'm 65 and never had it before. It knocked me out completely. I certainly hope it does'nt arrive on our shores. As yet I have'nt had flu jab - not sire what to do!

For yourselves - flu is a killer - at best, if you get, it you are properly ill for 4 - 6 weeks and weakened for months - during which you are more vulnerable to any other bugs about - the 'social' season is rapidly approaching.
For other people - the fewer people have influenza, the fewer to pass it on - the effect of immunisations is cumulative in the community. We are so lucky to live in a country that encourages us to care for ourselves and others.

I read an article last week in the paper guardian or times I can't remember which, that the flu jab for the over 65's doesn't work . I've had mine even though I'm over the hill . My mother of 95 has declined this year -"not worth it " she says !

I had my flu jab last week and as usual no bad reaction at all,
I've been having them for about 20 years now and they work for me. No flu, and no bronchitis which used to plague me before flu jabs started.
Real flu is a dreadful thing, much worse then just a cold.
And I've had the pneumonia jab.
We are so lucky to have these preventatives.

I have just had mine-free as I am an NHS volunteer. OH had his at Morrisons where it was £8.
No reaction at all.
I started having one after I had flu one year and was ill from Christmas Eve until March. I never want a repeat if that.

I've had it for years-I paid before I turned 60. I had it done last week with one to protect against Peumonia- which I cannot spell. One in each arm. Never have had any sort of reaction or sore arm & although am not keen on needles it is over in a flash.
Having once had real flu I am not risking that again