More people eligible for flu jab: Bucks GPs catching up
Residents are being reassured over 65's, children and those 'at risk' will be able to get the jab.
Buckinghamshire GP's are catching up after a rise in demand for the flu jab.
Buckinghamshire GP's are reassuring patients that they will be able to vaccinate those in the most need.
In late July the government announced that anyone over the age of 50 would not be eligible for the flu vaccine, instead of the standard of 65 age limit.
An increase in demand and eligibility for the flue jab has left GP practices across the county catching up.
Dr Juliet Sutton, a local GP is the Clinical Director for Children's Services at Bucks CCG, explains:
"The big difficulty is potentially the extra group that the government has advised, which is generally the 50-65's. Where if your not in an at risk group you will go down lower on the list of priority and you will still get a flu injection but possibly not until November."
"None of us were expecting to have this extra cohort of patients that would be eligible for a flu jab. So we're playing catch up but we do have enough for our at risk patients, over 65's and all our children that we vaccinate in primary care."
The flu vaccine is ordered months in advance, so a delay in providing for the increased cohort was expected.
Another issue Dr Sutton highlighted was fridge space. Like all vaccines the flu jab needs to be kept at a certain temperature and so a GP practise can only store a certain amount depending on its storage space.
Worry surrounding coronavirus has also lead to more people taking up the offer for a flu jab through the NHS, which although contributes to an increase in demand Dr Sutton says is great to see:
"We have had people in their 70's and 80's coming forward who have never come forward before to get a jab and because of the other concerns have decided this year to do so, and that is fantastic."