Free flu jabs for Queenslanders loom, as horror season continues

Flu jabs will be made free for all Queenslanders within days as the state government launches a vaccination blitz in a bid to combat a horror influenza season.

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All Queenslanders will be able to access free flu jabs within days under a state government- funded intervention to get more people protected amid a horror season which has already claimed 56 lives.

Young people are being warned they are especially vulnerable, with half of those hospitalised for influenza B this year aged under 20.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman confirmed the state would fund free flu jabs from Saturday until the end of August, in a repeat of a successful 2022 blitz.

It’s hoped removing cost and access barriers will entice more people to get the jab and in turn raise Queensland’s woeful flu vaccination rates, which is the lowest in the country in those aged 50 and younger.

While the state will go it alone again this year Ms Fentiman said the government endorsed calls by medical experts for a “long-term” plan for flu jabs so the sector isn’t left scrambling each year.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Queensland chair Dr Bruce Willett

This will likely require federal intervention, with Queensland to pitch the plan to add the jab to the National Immunisation Program to make it free for everyone every year at a national meeting of health ministers in Canberra later this week.

Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard revealed Queensland was in the grips of its second flu wave of the year — dominated by the influenza B strain and the peak was not yet in sight.

There had been 51,426 total cases of the flu this year, with 3676 hospitalisations and rising, 35 people needing intensive care and 56 deaths as of July 14.

Dr Gerrard said he was particularly concerned about the return to school and increased spread.

“The reality is I don’t know for certain what is going to happen over the next couple of weeks,” he said.

Queensland has the lowest immunisation rate for the flu in the nation among children aged 4 and younger (18.6 per cent), those aged 14 to 5 (11.1 per cent) and also those aged 15 to 49 (17.8 per cent).

“We have a very low immunisation rate for children here in Queensland compared with the rest of Australia, we need to get more children immunized against influenza.”

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners vice-president and Brisbane GP Dr Bruce Willett said he was shocked to learn that half of all flu patients in hospital at the moment were under 22 years-old.

“The announcement (of free flu shots) is great but I think one of the things that we all need to do, Queensland Health and GPs, is to get that message across more effectively that flu is serious, and serious for the entire population,” he said.

Dr Willett said he supported calls for there to be a more long-term fix for lifting vaccination rates whether that meant yearly funding by Queensland Health for flu jabs or having the flu vaccine added to the National Immunisation Program.

“It’s not helpful to be doing this in a scrambled way every year, and that point was made at this morning’s meeting, and I don’t think the minister would mind me saying that she took that point on board.

“It needs to now be organised and just part of the game every year.”

The free flu jab blitz begins on July 22 to give pharmacists and GPs time to prepare their stock and staff but Queenslanders who are set to get it before Saturday have been assured they won’t have to pay for the vaccine.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman

Bookings should be placed online to free up the telephone lines of doctors and pharmacists.

Australian Medical Association Queensland president and GP Dr Maria Boulton said she believed it made most sense for the Commonwealth to take the lead on improving access to flu jabs.

“So it makes sense to include it in the free program, because at the end of the day, we don’t want people ill and missing school, missing work, and we certainly need to help families, especially those who are suffering with cost of living pressures, to get access to those vaccines,” she said.

Pharmacy Guild Queensland president Chris Owen said health professionals as a whole hadn’t done a good enough job this year to remind people of the importance of getting the flu vaccine, calling for his colleagues in the sector to “get the message out there”.

Lung Foundation Australia chief executive Mark Brooke said Queenslanders needed to take this opportunity to protect themselves and loved ones now, at no cost.

“Lung Foundation Australia continues to call for national targets for adult vaccination rates to be created, adopted, and the costs covered under the National Immunisation Program – and this should include influenza,” he said.

“Setting and working together towards reaching immunisation targets will save lives.”