Winter Vaccines: Get Boosted To Protect Yourself

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is urging eligible individuals in Northern Ireland to get their annual flu and COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible. The agency highlights the significant benefits of vaccination in reducing severe illness and death, especially for those at high risk.

Rachel Spiers, Immunisation and Vaccination Programme Manager at the PHA, emphasises the potential life-saving impact of vaccination, particularly during winter months when respiratory illnesses like flu and COVID-19 can be prevalent. She warns that the absence of widespread circulation last year doesn't guarantee immunity, and vulnerable individuals remain at risk.

The PHA reports that over a million doses of flu and COVID-19 vaccines were administered in Northern Ireland last year, contributing to the protection of many. While acknowledging the possibility of mild side effects, the agency stresses that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh any potential risks.

The PHA encourages all eligible individuals to prioritise vaccination as a crucial step in safeguarding public health. If you are in an eligible group, you can get vaccinated by your GP practice, a participating community pharmacy or HSC Trust vaccination clinic.

Eligible groups for COVID-19 autumn booster vaccine in 2024/25 are:

• All adults aged 65 years and over;

• persons aged six months to 64 years in a clinical risk group, as laid out in the Immunisation Green Book COVID-19 chapter (Green Book);

• pregnant women;

• residents and staff in a care home for older adults;

• frontline health and social care workers

Those eligible for flu vaccine in 2024/25 are:

• All adults aged 65 years and over;

• persons aged six months to 64 years in a clinical risk group, as laid out in the Immunisation Green Book influenza chapter (Green Book);

• pregnant women;

• residents and staff in a care home for older adults;

• all health and social care workers;

• all preschool children aged two to four years on 1 September 2024;

• all primary and secondary school children (up to and including year 12);

• carers;

• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals

Further details on the winter vaccination programme can be found at www.nidirect.gov.uk/wintervaccines