Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, warned that the NHS "faces a perfect storm of Covid-19, flu and other respiratory illnesses" in addition to a "growing backlog of care". "Thus, influenza vaccines may not provide the best protection, because unexpected influenza virus strains may be circulating during the flu season." "Basically, everything that we learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic will also protect us from the flu and other respiratory diseases." Mr Javid recently confirmed the Government is considering whether to give a booster vaccine for coronavirus along with the flu jab over the winter. If that happens, uptake of the flu vaccine "should be at record highs", he predicted.

Source: Daily Mirror July 22, 2021 10:09 UTC