Free flu jabs may have helped avert hospitals being overrun with cases of the flu this winter, new figures suggest.
Hospitals in England were “run at near capacity” during the peak of winter, NHS officials said at the time.
And new figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) now indicate that flu vaccines prevented 96,000 to 120,200 hospital admissions this flu season.
But health officials said there was a “mixed picture” of free vaccine uptake across England.
There were record levels of secondary school pupils who received the flu vaccination but uptake declined in other areas, including among toddlers, primary school pupils and people with long-term health conditions.
The figures show:
– Vaccine uptake among two and three-year-olds is below pre-pandemic levels, with just over two in five taking up the offer.
– 55% of primary school pupils received the flu nasal spray, compared with 60% before the pandemic.
– Just two in five (40%) of people with long-term health problems, or those who are immunosuppressed took up the offer of a flu jab, compared with 45% pre-pandemic.
– Some 45% of secondary school children took up the offer, the highest level on record.
– Flu jab uptake among people aged 65 and over was at 74.9% – almost reaching the World Health Organisation target of 75%.
Health officials reported that there were 7,757 deaths linked to flu this winter – which is more than twice the number from the previous year, but not as high as the 15,867 reported in 2022/23.
They estimated that vaccine effectiveness against being admitted to hospital with flu ranged from 38% in older adults to 75% in children aged two to 17.
“Our flu reports for last winter show a mixed picture with some successes but also some concerning falls in vaccine uptake,” said Dr Suzanna McDonald, national lead for the influenza programme at UKHSA.
“Many of the more vulnerable who are eligible – young infants, primary school children and people with a long-term health condition and the immunosuppressed – did not get their vaccine, with worryingly low uptakes.
“Last winter was a bad flu season, but estimates show vaccination protected as many as 120,200 from being hospitalised. But for many thousands of unvaccinated vulnerable children and adults who ended up seriously ill in hospital, this could have been prevented.”
