UK in ‘super flu’ epidemic as schools surge sparks calls for teacher jabs ...Middle East

The NHS has been urged to extend the free flu jab to teachers and other school staff to protect them from the virus which is sweeping through classrooms.

Rates of “super flu” are currently highest among primary and younger secondary pupils, and many schools have been forced to close due to high levels of staff absence.

Ministers have been urged to offer the vaccine free to teaching and support staff in England so they can keep schools open, with the Liberal Democrats stressing this is the “right thing for them and for their pupils”.

Data released this week showed that positive flu tests were highest among children aged five to 14. But less than a third of all pupils have had their flu vaccines – despite it being offered for free inside schools by the NHS.

The World Health Organisation has confirmed that the UK has officially reached “epidemic” status for flu. In early December, it crossed the threshold into a “medium activity” epidemic.

It is, however, not unusual for an ordinary winter flu season to reach epidemic levels.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, noted that flu outbreaks are clearly affecting schools, hitting staff and pupil attendance.Schools will do what they can to reduce the risk of infection spreading, he said, and closing is a last resort, though there have been “some isolated cases”.

One school in Cornwall moved to remote learning on Thursday and Friday over “unprecedented and increasing” incidences of flu – while another in Essex shut until Tuesday over a norovirus outbreak.

In the final days before the Christmas period, NHS England has attempted to boost uptake of the vaccine with a fresh drive for pupils.

Schools with low vaccine uptake – based on a low level of consent forms returned – will be followed up by second visits before schools break for Christmas.

Reminders to parents are also being sent via schools, with the additional option to attend a community catch-up clinic.

There are also fears that unvaccinated children might also risk passing the virus on to older adults during family gatherings at Christmas.

Out of all public service workers, currently only frontline NHS and social care staff qualify for the free flu vaccine.

Lib Dem health spokesperson Helen Morgan told The i Paper: “Teachers are absolutely vital in our communities, and interact with so many families and children. Offering them vaccines is the right thing for them and for their pupils.

“Liberal Democrats are calling for vaccines to be offered in community spaces across the country – from pubs to churches to protect vulnerable communities and protect our NHS from breaking point as we head further into the winter months.”

Eligible groups for vaccination are decided each season by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Besides NHS frontline workers, it is available to over-65s, toddlers, pregnant women and anyone with a serious health condition.

Vaccination data up to the end of October shows that among school children of all years in England, 27.6 per cent had had the flu jab. This is delivered as a nasal spray to youngsters.

The lowest regional rates among all ages of schoolchildren were in London and the north-west, both at 22.1 per cent.

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Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged parents to keep their children off school if they had flu symptoms, saying it was “the right thing to do”.

He told LBC: “You don’t want them to over-exert themselves with the flu, and you definitely don’t want them spreading it around to other kids.

“Schools will only close in extreme circumstances, and on the advice of the local public health authorities.

“And that might be, for example, if there’s a particularly nasty infection and there’s a need for a deep clean or something like that, but schools will not be routinely closing, and they should not routinely close.”

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