Flu vaccine now available – currently we have vaccines for anyone aged 6 months to 64 years of age (both the private ones and those provided by NSW Health)
We are expecting another delivery of vaccines for over 65s in the next couple of weeks
If you are in one of the categories listed below you are eligible for free vaccine. We are aiming to vaccinate our higher risk patients in a timely manner, but please note that if you are keeping yourself safe from coronavirus you should also be protecting yourself from flu.
We will be contacting priority patients to book them in for an appointment. To do this safely we will arrange specific times when we can organise to get people in and out with minimum contact time.
Before your appointment
Once you have booked your appointment, please read the information below about flu vaccines for 2020 and the checklist. If you have concerns about anything on the checklist or if you fell unwell on the day of your appointment, please call and make a time to speak to one of our doctors. Please print a copy if you can and bring it with you to your appointment. Download checklist here
On the day of your appointment
Due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our clinic is taking measures to protect the community. It is vital that all instructions are followed:
- Only one parent/guardian should accompany a child into the session
- People must not attend the session if they or their child have symptoms of a respiratory infection (such as fever, or a sore throat, or a runny nose, or shortness of breath or a cough) or have returned from overseas in the past 14 days or have been told to self-isolate
- Please don’t arrive early for your appointment
- Wait outside the practice until you receive a call/SMS to ask you to enter
- Please don’t use our toilet facilities unless absolutely necessary
When you enter the practice
- Use hand sanitiser provided at the entrance to the reception or waiting area
- Your temperature will be checked as you enter the practice
- We will ask you to read the checklist again and give your consent for the vaccine
- Please follow all instructions given by our staff
After the vaccination
- We will ask you to wait for 10 minutes on a designated chair
- If there is a payment for vaccine required we will phone to arrange payment.
- You will receive an SMS the following day from Smartvax to check on any adverse reactions .You can also call the practice to report any concerns.
Note that there will not be any other patients entering the practice during flu vaccination clinics. We will continue to clean all areas as we go, and use any protective equipment as required.
Eligibility for free influenza vaccine
Free seasonal influenza vaccine is funded by NSW Health for the following groups at higher risk of complications from influenza:
- all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 6 months and over
- all children aged 6 months to less than 5 years of age (including Aboriginal and medically at risk)
- all individuals aged 5 years and over with medical risk conditions, namely:
- cardiac disease, including cyanotic congenital heart disease, coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure
- chronic respiratory conditions, including suppurative lung disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and severe asthma
- other chronic illnesses requiring regular medical follow up or hospitalisation in the previous year, including diabetes mellitus, chronic metabolic diseases, chronic renal failure, and haemoglobinopathies
- chronic neurological conditions that impact on respiratory function, including multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, and seizure disorders
- impaired immunity, including HIV, malignancy and chronic steroid use
- pregnant women (influenza vaccine can be given at any stage of pregnancy)
- people aged 65 years and over
Is the influenza vaccine safe?
As with any medications, vaccines can have side effects. The most common side effects following influenza vaccination include mild fever, headache, muscle and joint pain and injection site reactions. These can occur in the first three days after vaccination and can generally be managed safely at home.
Serious side effects are rare. In Australia, we have a system which monitors the safety of vaccines including seasonal influenza vaccines. This system uses a short SMS survey to ask patients, or parents of children, in a large number of general practices around Australia, if they experienced any health issues in the first few days after vaccination. In 2019, 93.9% of people that participated in the survey reported no adverse events following immunisation. Of the 6.1% of people that reported an adverse event the majority were generally mild and short lived.
