Who Flu Jabs Are Free For
Yearly flu vaccinations are free for:
- pregnant people
- people aged 65 years and over
- Mori and Pacific people aged 55 years and over
- people who have a long-term medical condition like diabetes, asthma, or a heart condition
- children 4 years old or younger who have been in hospital with respiratory illness such as asthma.
If youre eligible for a free flu shot, contact your GP or healthcare provider to make a booking.
Health Care Workers Attitudes Toward Condition
Health care agencies may be reluctant to implement condition-of-service policies because of a concern about causing discontent among employees. However, among North American surveys each including more than 200 respondents published since 2010, 57%85% of health care workers supported or strongly supported influenza vaccination as a condition of service. Support for condition-of-service policies is associated with increased knowledge of influenza vaccine science,,, a lengthier career in health care, and more exposure to seriously ill patients with influenza, emphasizing that education is a critically important component for gaining employee acceptance when condition-of-service policies are introduced. Health care workers who work in a setting with an immunization mandate are also more likely to support such a mandate., Perhaps surprisingly, in some surveys, a significant minority of unvaccinated workers have reported being in favour of condition-of-service policies.,,
A Smallpox Panic And A $5 Fine
A certificate of “protection from smallpox” filled out by the United States Marine Hospital Service for John Donaldson, traveling aboard SS Chalmette to New Orleans, Havana, Cuba, July 18, 1902.
In 1901, the city of Boston registered 1,596 confirmed cases of smallpox, a highly contagious, fever-inducing illness infamous for causing a severe rash on the face and arms that often left survivors scarred for life. In Boston alone, 270 people died from smallpox during the extended 1901 to 1903 outbreak. Thats why public health officials in Boston and neighboring Cambridge issued their compulsory vaccination orders, hoping to reach the 90 percent vaccination rate required for herd immunity.
Jacobson, who served as the pastor of a Swedish Lutheran church in Cambridge, had been vaccinated against smallpox in Sweden when he was 6 years old, an experience that he later said caused him great and extreme suffering. So when Dr. E. Edwin Spencer, chairman of the Cambridge Board of Health, knocked on the Jacobsons door on March 15, 1902, the pastor refused vaccination for himself and his son.
A few months later, Cambridge was in a full-fledged smallpox panic with the city ordering the closure of all schools, public libraries and churches to stem the spread of the disease. Police officers accompanied health officials like Spencer, who went door to door vaccinating as many as 100 people a day.
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Can I Get Travel Vaccines In A Country Outside The United States To Save On Costs
CDC does not recommend getting travel vaccines in another country because:
- Most vaccines need to be administered ahead of time to give you full protection against a disease.
- Vaccines available in other countries may be different from the ones used in the United States and may be less effective.
- If you’re concerned about the cost of travel vaccines and medicines, check to see if your city or county health department has a travel medicine clinic. It may cost less to visit a doctor there than to go to a private doctor.
How Far Ahead Should I Get Any Needed Travel Vaccines
You should make an appointment with a travel medicine specialist or your health care provider ideally at least a month before your trip to get needed vaccines and medicines. Even if youre a last-minute traveler, there may be options for getting the vaccines and medicines you need.
If you need a yellow fever vaccine, keep in mind that it is currently available only at a limited number of clinics in theUnited States.The nearest yellow fever vaccination clinic may be some distance away from where you live, and appointments may be limited. Find the nearest clinic and contact it ahead of time to make sure it has the vaccine.
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Who Should Get The Flu Vaccine
The flu vaccine is a good idea for all families. It does not cause the flu and it helps keep kids and parents from getting sick. Getting the flu is worse than having a cold and can make a person sick for a week or more.
Everyone 6 months of age and older should get vaccinated before the start of each flu season, with very few exceptions. Some people are more likely to get health problems from the flu, such as the elderly, pregnant women, infants, and people with medical conditions like asthma or diabetes. Getting a flu vaccine is especially important for them and for those who live with them.
Babies younger than 6 months can’t get the vaccine. But they will be protected if their parents, other caregivers, and older kids in the household get it. This is important because infants who get the flu are more likely to have serious problems than older kids.
Vaccines Not Routinely Available
Civil surgeons should annotate not routinely available on Form I-693 if the COVID-19 vaccine is not routinely available in the state where the civil surgeon practices. In addition, if the vaccine is available to the applicant but due to limited supply, it would cause significant delay for the applicant to receive the vaccination, then the civil surgeon should also annotate not routinely available on Form I-693. USCIS may grant a blanket waiver in these cases.
Generally, national vaccination shortage principles do not apply overseas. In the context of overseas vaccinations, the term panel physicians use to indicate the unavailability of a vaccine is not routinely available. Therefore, if the adjustment applicant is permitted to use the vaccination assessment completed overseas, then officers should not find the applicant inadmissible solely based on the lack of the vaccine that is not routinely available. Officers should also not issue an RFE for corrective action. USCIS may grant a blanket waiver in these cases.
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What Kinds Of Flu Vaccines Are Available
CDC recommends use of any licensed, age-appropriate influenza vaccine during the 2021-2022 influenza season. Available influenza vaccines include quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine , recombinant influenza vaccine , or live attenuated influenza vaccine . No preference is expressed for any influenza vaccine over another.
Quadrivalent flu vaccines include:
Are any of the available flu vaccines recommended over others?
For the 2021-2022 flu season, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends annual influenza vaccination for everyone 6 months and older with any licensed, influenza vaccine that is appropriate for the recipients age and health status, including inactivated influenza vaccine , recombinant influenza vaccine , or live attenuated nasal spray influenza vaccine with no preference expressed for any one vaccine over another.
There are many vaccine options to choose from, but the most important thing is for all people 6 months and older to get a flu vaccine every year. If you have questions about which vaccine is best for you, talk to your doctor or other health care professional.
Who Should Vaccinate?
Everyone 6 months of age and older should get an influenza vaccine every season with rare exception. CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has made this recommendation since the 2010-2011 influenza season.
More information is available at Who Needs a Flu Vaccine.
Who Should Not Be Vaccinated?
When should I get vaccinated?
Understanding Decisions Around Flu Vaccination
Ella Ferris, Executive Vice President Programs and Chief Nursing Executive at St. Michaels Hospital notes that there is an annual campaign to encourage staff to get vaccinated which consists of an awareness campaign about the flu vaccine, plus many outreach mobile opportunities to get the vaccine. However, there continues to be low compliance rates amongst health care workers. Ferris says that once the campaign is over there are effective mechanisms for management to receive feed back on the outcomes of the campaign. However, we really do not understand the reasons for low compliance. Perhaps we need to go to the clinical units and say to the staff lets talk about compliance, as we wish to understand why some of you dont get your flu shot.
, a researcher at St Michaels Hospital, interviewed a small number of health care workers to better understand why some staff chose not to get the flu vaccine. Some of the health care workers Parsons interviewed were skeptical that the vaccine really worked. Others worried about side effects. Many felt that ultimately getting the vaccine is a personal choice, and didnt talk about the benefits of vaccination for their patients.
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Can I Have The Flu Vaccine If I Take Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a type of medicine used to treat some cancers, including metastatic melanoma, renal clear cell carcinoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, non-small celllung cancer and other solid organ tumours. Checkpoint inhibitors include ipilimumab, nivolumab and pembrolizumab.
People taking checkpoint inhibitors may have a higher risk of immune-related side effects following influenza vaccination. Talk to your oncologist about the risks and benefits of the flu shot.
For more information on the flu vaccine, go to the Department of Health website or call the National Immunisation Hotline on 1800 671 811.
Flu Vaccine For People With Long
The flu vaccine is offered free on the NHS to anyone with a serious long-term health condition, including:
- a learning disability
- problems with your spleen, for example, sickle cell disease, or if you have had your spleen removed
- a weakened immune system as the result of conditions such as HIV and AIDS, or taking medicines such as steroid tablets or chemotherapy
Talk to your doctor if you have a long-term condition that is not in one of these groups. They should offer you the flu vaccine if they think you’re at risk of serious problems if you get flu.
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When To Get The Influenza Vaccine
New season influenza vaccines under the NIP are expected to be available from April. Timing may be different for your local area. Check with your immunisation provider to find out when they will have the vaccine available and when you will be able to book in to have the vaccine.
Annual influenza vaccine should occur anytime from April onwards to be protected for the peak flu season, which is generally June to September. The highest level of protection occurs in the first 3 to 4 months following vaccination.
However, it is never too late to vaccinate since influenza can circulate in the community all year round.
Pregnant women should receive the vaccine at any stage during pregnancy.
Influenza vaccines can be given on the same day with a COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccination Mandates And Their Opponents
Mandatory vaccination requirements have become increasingly prevalent as the threat of an H1N1 pandemic has intensified. A number of hospitals across the country, including Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Emory Hospital in Atlanta, and all 273 facilities of Hospital Corporation of America, have instituted such rules for their own personnel. Additional facilities may join them.
New York State was the first in the nation to try to mandate vaccination as a matter of law, but the effort proved to be short-lived. The Department of Health issued a rule last August that would have barred workers who declined either seasonal or H1N1 influenza vaccination from assignments involving patient contact in any hospital, outpatient clinic or home-care program. However, a group of nurses sued and obtained a restraining order suspending enforcement. Subsequently, the Department, citing vaccine shortages, withdrew the proposal. It is not clear whether other states will attempt similar measures.
For the most part, unions representing nurses have been vocal in opposing vaccine mandates. Although they generally support voluntary vaccination and strongly encourage their members to comply, they believe that each health care worker should be entitled to make his or her own decision. They point out that all vaccines can pose risks. Even for people without allergies, hazards may lurk in additives, such as thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used in some vaccines.
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What Is An Enhanced Influenza Vaccine
An enhanced flu vaccine is one that contains an adjuvant, an ingredient designed to increase the immune-system response to the vaccine. People aged 65 and older are often given an enhanced influenza vaccine because since the immune system weakens with age they dont respond as well to the flu vaccine as healthy, younger adults.
Fluad Quad is an enhanced flu vaccine recommended for people aged 65 and over in Australia.
The Legal Status Of Mandates
The power of the government to mandate vaccination has long been recognized by the Supreme Court. In the landmark 1905 case of Jacobson v. Massachusetts, the Court upheld an ordinance in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that required all adult citizens to be vaccinated against smallpox in the wake of an epidemic. The court found that notwithstanding the Constitutions guarantee of liberty, every person may be subject to manifold restraints when needed for the public good. This broad ruling gives health care workers limited legal ground to object.
Moreover, most states recognize the doctrine of employment-at-will, under which employers can terminate a worker for any reason as long as a prohibited motivation, such as race or disability status, is not involved. In the absence of a proscribed rationale, vaccination can be used as a condition of continued employment.
There is an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine for collective bargaining agreements that limit an employers hiring discretion. In 2006, the Washington State Nurses Association sued Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, which sought to require nurses to receive seasonal flu vaccine. The union claimed that a collective bargaining agreement prohibited new workplace rules without its consent. An arbitrator upheld the unions right to veto the vaccine requirement, and the decision was affirmed in court. However, the hospital has recently reinstituted the mandate for all employees except unionized nurses.
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Pregnancy Or An Immuno
Some vaccines are, in general, not medically appropriate during pregnancy. These vaccines will likely be marked as contraindicated on Form I-693 if the applicant was pregnant at the time of the medical examination.
The civil surgeon may annotate in the remarks section that the applicant did not receive one or more vaccines because of a contraindication that is based on pregnancy or a condition other than pregnancy. The reason for the contraindication may be annotated by the civil surgeon on the Form I-693 however, if it is omitted, the officer does not need to issue a Request for Evidence solely for that omission as long as the contraindication is marked in the vaccine chart.
An officer should also never issue an RFE for additional vaccines if the applicant is no longer pregnant at the time of the adjudication of the adjustment of status. As long as the vaccination assessment was properly completed by the civil surgeon at the time of the examination, the vaccination assessment can be accepted. In other words, if a woman did not receive certain required vaccines because she was pregnant at the time of the medical examination, and the contraindication box is marked by the civil surgeon, the applicant is not required to get those vaccines later at the time of the adjudication.
Likewise, some vaccines are not medically appropriate for applicants who have an immuno-compromised condition and may be marked by the civil surgeon as contraindicated.
Health Care Workers Mandatory Influenza Vaccination Policies And The Law
Over the last few years, there has been increasing discussion about the importance of influenza vaccination for health care workers. There is consensus that all health care workers should receive the influenza vaccine annually, but the actual vaccination rates in this group remain below 50%., In response to this low rate and the evidence that vaccination of health care workers is associated with improved patient outcomes, an increasing number of expert and professional groups recommend that annual influenza vaccination be a condition of service in the health care industry.,
Although much has been written about the evidence that the vaccination of health care workers against influenza improves patient outcomes,, and about the ethics of mandating vaccination,, there is much less published information on aspects of implementation of such policies.
We provide a brief review of the literature regarding the impact of such policies on the vaccination rates among health care workers and their attitudes toward mandated influenza vaccination, and we review key Canadian legal cases.
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Other Methods Of Manufacture
Methods of vaccine generation that bypass the need for eggs include the construction of influenza virus-like particles . VLP resemble viruses, but there is no need for inactivation, as they do not include viral coding elements, but merely present antigens in a similar manner to a virion. Some methods of producing VLP include cultures of Spodoptera frugiperdaSf9 insect cells and plant-based vaccine production . There is evidence that some VLPs elicit antibodies that recognize a broader panel of antigenically distinct viral isolates compared to other vaccines in the hemagglutination-inhibition assay .
A gene-based DNA vaccine, used to prime the immune system after boosting with an inactivated H5N1 vaccine, underwent clinical trials in 2011.
On November 20, 2012, Novartis received FDA approval for the first cell-culture vaccine. In 2013, the recombinant influenza vaccine, Flublok, was approved for use in the United States.
On September 17, 2020, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for Supemtek, a quadrivalent influenza vaccine . The applicant for this medicinal product is Sanofi Pasteur. Supemtek was approved for medical use in the European Union in November 2020.