Yahoo Finance Flu could be a bigger problem than Covid this winter, says Prof Anthony Harnden
Flu could present a bigger problem than coronavirus this winter, a health expert has warned.
Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said the UK could be in a “really good place” this winter with the success of the vaccine rollout but this may not be the case for flu.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “I will emphasise that actually flu could be potentially a bigger problem this winter than Covid.
“We’ve had a very, very low prevalence of flu for the last few years, particularly virtually nil during lockdown.
“We do know that when flu has been circulating in very low numbers immunity drops in the population and it comes back to bite us. So, flu can be really, really important this winter.”
Scientists are looking at whether flu and Covid vaccines can be administered at the same time in an ongoing study.
Prof Harnden added: “Reactogenicity, or how they react with each other, and what sort of side-effect profile that they give when given together, is really important.”
Asked about giving children Covid vaccines, he added: “We need to think very carefully what the benefits are to children themselves and those would be the deliberations we’ll be making in the next few years.”
The NHS is to consider whether Covid-19 vaccine boosters could be given alongside the flu jab.
Questions surrounding the campaign include how long protection lasts, whether people can “mix and match” coronavirus vaccines, the plan for vaccinating children, what the level of protection is against new variants and whether vaccines need “tweaking.”
“There are a bunch of questions that really do need to be answered in terms of looking forward to the next phase,” Prof Harnden said.
“Flu jabs start in September. So if we’re going to do one jab in one arm, one jab in the other, we really do need to know quite quickly.
“And that’s why we’ve called today for the government to do all it can to get us the answers to those questions. We need those answers really pretty quickly if we’re to carry on our fantastic success.”
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