Free flu jab call for all Australians as surgery delayed indefinitely

Experts are calling for flu jabs to be made free as hospitals are under siege, and families are forced to pay up to $100 to get vaccinated.

Experts are pushing for the flu vaccination to be made free for everyone as overwhelmed public hospitals are forced to delay elective surgery.

Elderly Australians are also being urged to get off their backsides and get their fourth Covid booster dose.

Fewer than one in three of the people aged over 65 who are eligible for a fourth Covid booster have taken it up.

And only 15 per cent of Aussies have had this year’s flu vaccine when nearly half the population had received it by the middle of May last year.

Public hospitals are under severe pressure as they are forced to cope with the double whammy of surging Covid and influenza cases at the same time.

Last week Canberra’s public hospitals were forced to delay elective surgery indefinitely as a record 80 Covid patients were hospitalised and massive staff shortages made it impossible to carry out business as usual.

The soaring death rate from both viruses mean grappling with infection control will be one of the new Labor Government’s most pressing first tasks.

One easy solution would be to follow Queensland’s lead and make the jab free for all, experts have said.

The flu shot is free for the elderly but it can cost $100 to vaccinate a family of four which is prohibitive at the same time as petrol prices and inflation are squeezing family budgets.

Professor Dominic Dwyer would back a cheaper flu jab. Picture: AAP

“There’s a whole range of things that stop people getting vaccinated, and you want to reduce those barriers, whatever they might be,” Medical Virologist and Director of Public Health Pathology, New South Wales Health Pathology, Professor Dominic Dwyer said.

Professor Dwyer said he was sure Commonwealth and State Health Departments would be discussing a nationwide approach to lowering the cost of the flu jab.

Infectious diseases expert group OZsage is also calling for a wider groups of Australians to be given access to a fourth Covid booster dose.

At present these are only available to people aged over 65 and those who are immunocompromised.

Data from Israel showed people aged over 60 who received a fourth vaccine dose had rates of severe disease 3.5 times lower than those who had only received three doses.

Australia has purchased millions more Covid vaccine doses than it needs and there are currently 14 million unused doses which could be given to the general population.

Two in three elderly people have not had their fourth Covid booster. Picture: iStock

Hospitals are under increasing pressure, with 34,000 Covid infections a day — one of the highest rates in the world — and more than 10,000 people battling influenza.

Nationwide there are more than 2912 people in hospital with Covid, including 107 in ICU.

There have been a further 153 hospital admissions due to influenza, including seven ICU admissions since April 2022.

The flu season has just begun but if it is as severe as 2019 then there could be 30,000 estimated hospital admissions just to influenza alone.

Last week News Corp revealed with more than 8110 people losing their lives to Covid, the virus is on track to be our second or third biggest killer this year.

“This is the first time an infectious disease has been a leading cause of death in modern history,” infectious diseases expert group OZsage said.

The group is calling for a nationwide public education campaign to remind people to wear masks indoors to reduce the spread of both viruses.

They want N95 masks made free, new indoor air quality standards and free rapid antigen tests.

News Corp asked the new Labor Government for a response but had not received one at the time of publication.