Key points
- There are calls for other states to join Queensland in offering flu vaccines for all.
- Detected flu cases have been surging across the nation. In Victoria, they are now nearing levels not seen since 2019.
- Some vulnerable groups are already eligible for a free vaccine, but take-up has been low.
Doctors and pharmacists say flu vaccinations should be given to every Australian for free to help curb the surge of cases presenting to already overcrowded hospitals and shake vaccine fatigue that may be worsening a massive uptick in influenza infections.
New data shows fewer than two in 10 Victorian children under five have received a flu vaccination this year, despite being among those already eligible for a free jab because they are considered especially at risk of the severe disease.
Gaurav Tripathi and his two-year-old daughter Paavika, who has had flu.Credit:Chris Hopkins
Detected cases of influenza in Victoria have surged in recent weeks. More than 10,600 cases have been reported this year, compared with just 62 at the same time last year.
Numbers are now nearing levels not seen since the same time during the 2019 flu season, a particularly bad year for influenza in Australia. That year, 953 Australians aged from one to 106 died.
Melbourne doctors are reporting that most of the people who have been testing positive to influenza have not been vaccinated, with about 75 per cent of the state’s population still unvaccinated.
Among them is two-year-old Paavika Tripathi, who has had a fever, chest congestion and runny nose after recently testing positive.
Her father, Gaurav, said he is not ideologically opposed to vaccines (his family get all the mandated vaccinations, including COVID-19 shots) but believes his children’s immunity should “develop naturally” where possible.
“I could be wrong,” he said. “If a doctor recommends that we give Paavika the flu shot then we will go for it, because he knows what’s best for her health.”
Within days of getting sick, Paavika’s eight-year-old brother and grandparents, who were living with the family while on holiday from India, came down with the flu too. None of them have been vaccinated.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Dr Karen Price warned the flu could be “quite nasty” in young children. She said people had been preoccupied with COVID-19 vaccinations and may not have expected the flu to pose such a significant problem so quickly.
“We were concerned because we’ve got a largely flu-naive population after two years of isolation, so we need to get a wriggle on.”
This week the Queensland government announced that all its residents would be offered a free vaccine up to the end of June, warning of a “severe outbreak” of influenza A, a more serious strain of the virus. NSW is also expected to begin offering free influenza vaccines to all residents as early as next week.
The Victorian government is yet to indicate whether it will follow in Queensland’s footsteps, but a spokesman said the state looked forward to working with the new Albanese government “to explore what else can be done”.
“We will always consider ways to better protect the community from infectious diseases – whether that’s COVID, Japanese encephalitis or even the flu,” he said.
A new federal health minister is yet to be appointed following the change of government.
Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said a free flu vaccination for all Australians was a good suggestion and should be considered by the Albanese government.
However, he said complacency may be more of a problem than cost, and politicians needed to strongly communicate to the public that the country was facing a major health crisis where people could not always access healthcare when they needed it.
Khorshid said having the flu vaccine was something everyone could do to help. If it stopped people getting very sick, it meant a hospital bed was kept free for other patients who needed it.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia Victorian president Anthony Tassone added his support to the call for free flu vaccines, saying it was up to the state government to “look at any measure to help encourage and increase flu vaccination uptake.
“We’re seeing the disruption to workplaces, to schools, to junior sport and the home, so we would welcome any measures that would increase flu vaccination uptake that helps offset the costs for patients and families.”
Tassone said the cost of the vaccine – varying between about $20 and $30 at different pharmacies – had deterred many families, especially those with several older children.
If the flu vaccines were to become free, doctors and pharmacies would expect to be reimbursed for the costs of administering the jab, he said.
The flu vaccine is already free for those considered most vulnerable to the flu, including children aged between six months and five, people aged over 65, pregnant women and those with underlying health conditions such as cardiac disease.
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