If you are at risk then GPs, local practice nurses and pharmacies can help you to get vaccinated. The best defence against flu is to book an appointment as soon as you can.
At risk people:
- are aged 65 or over
- are pregnant
- have a long-term health condition
- have a weakened immune system.
Flu vaccination is also available to carers and children aged 2 to 4 years. For all the ‘risk’ groups (listed above) the flu vaccination is free. For people outside of these groups, flu jabs are available to buy at local pharmacies.
For details of all Lambeth pharmacies where free flu vaccinations are available please use the link below (this leads to a PDF document):
For more information, we recommend that you:
- visit the NHS’s flu webpages
- read ‘The flu vaccination – winter 2014 to 2015’ leaflet by Public Health England.
Top 5 flu facts
Fact 1: Flu is not the same as a cold
Proper influenza is actually really awful. It’s not at all like a bad cold – influenza can leave you bed ridden for several days. For people with existing health conditions or who are older, getting flu can be especially serious, and you could end up seriously ill and in hospital. Flu can also lead to complications such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Remember, the flu vaccine is very effective at preventing flu: however, it doesn’t protect you from the common cold.
Fact 2: Flu vaccine will help your baby or child
If you are pregnant you should get vaccinated against flu as it will protect you and also protect your baby. It’s really important to have the vaccine whatever stage of pregnancy you are in. If you’re pregnant, you could get very ill if you get flu, which could be bad for your baby. Newborn babies and young children should be immunised too. For children aged 2, 3 or 4 a needle-less nasal spray flu vaccine is available.
Fact 3: Flu vaccine won’t make you ill
Most people don’t get side effects. Your arm might feel a bit sore for a few hours. A few people can feel achy or have a slight temperature for a little bit; it’s their body responding to the presence of the vaccine and goes away after a day. Most people think it’s worth feeling a little under the weather for a day, rather than spending several days in bed feeling really terrible, or worse if you develop serious complications.
Fact 4: Flu vaccine doesn’t give you flu
You cannot get flu from the vaccine. The flu vaccine given to adults contains inactivated flu viruses, so it can’t give you flu. Similarly, the chilidren’s nasal spray flu vaccine contains substantially weakened flu viruses that will not give your child flu.
Fact 5: Getting vaccinated is a quick process (and also free for those most at risk)
It’s pretty easy to get the vaccine in Lambeth. Just give your doctor a call and they can sort it out for you; or you can drop in to a local pharmacy to get the vaccine.
