The flu vaccination campaign will start again from mid-October. Last time the turnout was lower than the year before. What will it be like this winter?
1. Who is eligible for the flu shot?
These are children and adults who are at extra risk of becoming seriously ill. All people over 60 can get it, as can people with lung or heart disease, diabetes and obesity. This year, for the first time, all pregnant women are also eligible. For example, healthy pregnant women can receive the injection at the clinic after the 22nd week. In total, the target group amounts to about 6 million people.
The people from the target groups receive an invitation from their GP. He will then also vaccinate them.
2. How is the enthusiasm?
Last year, according to the RIVM, turnout for the flu shot was lower than the year before: 56.8 to 58.3 percent. Ted van Essen, chairman of the Dutch Influenza Foundation, expects that the enthusiasm this year will be comparable to 2022. The RIVM does not want to make an estimate of this.
3. Why is the number not higher?
According to Van Essen, relatively many people from risk groups underestimate the danger of a flu and corona infection. He bases this on the National Winter Fitness Survey that the Influenza Foundation conducted last month. Of the 5,600 participants, almost half did not know that they run an increased risk of death from respiratory infections.
“They understand that you can contract pneumonia as a result of the flu. But they do not know that the risk of a heart attack also increases six times compared to a normal situation. “I never get the flu,” people say. But hundreds of thousands of Dutch people contract it every year. And then you have to wait and see how things go.”
Van Essen also notes a jab fatigue in society. “People are a bit fed up with it.”
4. Is that a concern?
According to Van Essen, that is not a good thing. “Over the past ten years, an average of 4,700 people have died from the flu every year. It was extremely intense in 2018. Then there were as many as 900,000 infections and 9,000 deaths.”
According to him, the shot protects 30 percent against getting the flu and 40 to 45 percent against hospitalization. “It can therefore reduce the pressure on hospitals. In our country, vaccination is often viewed as a cost item, but it is actually an investment. This prevents you from having to spend more on healthcare in the longer term.”
According to Van Essen, a serious influenza or corona infection can also cause long-term complaints. “And that can keep people out of circulation for weeks.”
He also points out that the flu shot has fewer side effects than the corona vaccine. “While the corona shot can make you sick for a day, the flu shot will only give you some pain in the arm.”
5. Should the government do anything else?
He thinks so. “I don’t understand why we don’t just combine the corona shot and flu shot campaign. Then people get everything at once and the threshold is much lower. For people from risk groups, it is quite an expedition to have to leave the house separately twice.”
Van Essen also states that the government should communicate even better about the risk of respiratory infections. The National Winter Fit Survey shows that only 29 percent of the risk groups test themselves when they visit vulnerable people. “While that would be sensible, because you can prevent yourself from infecting someone who is vulnerable. Moreover, I think that the government should continue to emphasize advice such as sneezing into your elbow and washing your hands regularly.”