Around half of Wales’ population will be eligible for a free flu jab this year

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Around half of Wales’ population will be eligible for a free flu jab this year.

The flu vaccination programme will be extended once again to include everyone over the age of 50, as well as secondary school pupils in Years 7 to 11.

The programme was extended last year to include these groups and is being extended again this year.

It means more than 1.5 million people will be eligible for a free jab, with pregnant women, people with underlying health conditions and children aged between two and ten already eligible.

The announcement was made by Wales’ Health Minister, Eluned Morgan, who confirmed an extra £7.85m will be allocated to health boards to help with the increase.

Mrs Morgan encouraged those eligible to take up their free flu jab and said: “Here in Wales we feel it’s important that we continue to protect as many people as possible from flu and I’m pleased to confirm we will once again rollout an extended flu programme.

“Covid has not gone away and our NHS is still very much recovering from the pandemic. Ensuring as many people are protected from the flu will not only help individuals and their communities but also protect our NHS.”

The Welsh Government has said a high flu jab uptake is “vital to reduce morbidity and mortality” associated with flu, as well as helping to manage hospital admissions at a time when the NHS is battling winter outbreaks of Covid.

Another Covid booster vaccine programme is set to be rolled out in the autumn, with the prospect of both Covid and flu jabs being given at the same time being looked into.