Government plays down flu epidemic fears
Tuesday 28th December 2010, 12:45PM GMT.
The Government today played down concerns that the UK was heading for a flu epidemic as it defended its vaccination programme for the under-fives.
The age group was excluded from this year’s vaccination programme on medical not cost grounds, it said.
The Department of Health defended its handling of the winter outbreak amid Labour criticism of the lack of dedicated protection for young children and the decision to axe the annual flu-jab awareness campaign.
Dr Charles West, a locum GP in Shropshire, today said doctors in the county had been concerned that certain groups of people had been neglected under the vaccine programme.
But he said more people were now being offered the flu jab.
“A lot of flu jabs have been given but we, as doctors, have expressed concern that it should be given more widely. You will never eliminate all cases of flu but if as many people as possible are being offered it then you are giving it a pretty good go.”
Shadow health secretary John Healey accused ministers of leaving youngsters at risk.
It has been reported the decision not to offer jabs was a cost-cutting measure – saving £85 million – and doctors were concerned that next week’s return to school could spark the first epidemic for a decade.
But the DoH denied Health Secretary Andrew Lansley had “cancelled” the programme, saying he had accepted the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
On Friday, official figures showed the number of people in critical care with confirmed or suspected flu in England had risen to 460.
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