Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2020
485. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health if he will consider extending the free flu vaccine scheme to children up to 17 years of age in view of the relatively low rates of take-up of the nasal flu vaccine by children aged two to 12 years of age [42889/20]
View answer1.95 million doses of influenza vaccine, including 1.35 million doses of the Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (QIV) for administration to all persons in an at-risk group and 600,000 doses of the Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) for all children aged from 2 to 12 years old inclusive, have been made available for the current influenza vaccination programme. The amount of vaccine made available for this winter is almost double the amount of vaccine administered last winter.
Over 1.33 million of the 1.35 million doses of flu vaccine available this winter have been distributed to GPs, pharmacists and other vaccination sites. Deliveries are continuing and stock is expected to be depleted by the end of the year. In addition, over 460,000 doses of the LAIV for administration to children aged from 2 to 12 have been distributed.
As of 10th December, almost 950,000 claims for reimbursement from GPs and pharmacists for the administration QIV and approximately 193,000 claims for the administration of LAIV have been received.
Given the lower than expected uptake of the Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine for children, I have approved the expansion of the use of LAIV in all children aged from 2 years to 17 years inclusive, for the current winter period.
