(File Pictures)
Upon the Royal Command, the first phase of the seasonal influenza vaccination for this year will begin from Wednesday, next week. Six high-risk groups will be receiving the vaccination. The second phase which is for the rest of the population will start in November.
High-risk groups include health professionals, pregnant women, children aged between six to 24 months, the elderly population aged above 65 years and those with chronic medical conditions. This year, the active frontline workers serving in the high-risk area will be also receiving the vaccine.
“On the 7th of October, the seasonal influenza vaccine will be launched. In the first phase, the high-risk groups will be vaccinated,” said Dechen Wangmo, the Health Minister, during the press brief this afternoon.
“In order to validate and to verify that they belong to those five high-risk categories, we validate through MCH handbooks for pregnant women and children, citizenship identity card for the elderly population who are 65 years and above and finally to those persons with chronic medical conditions we ask for medical prescriptions,” said Sangay Phuntsho, a Senior Program Officer at the Dept of Public Health with the Health Ministry.
The vaccines will be available from all the health centres. With the onset of the flu season, the vaccine is also expected to reduce the mortality due to co-infection. The health officials also said it is difficult to differentiate between flu and COVID-19 without testing.
“We can have a massive reduction in the testing of COVID-19. Without the vaccine for COVID-19, we have a vaccine for influenza where we can prevent influenza-like illnesses including all the symptoms. So when we have a reduction in the cases of influenza, definitely the testing for COVID-19 will be reduced because people visiting to seek health care services due to the similar nature of symptoms will be reduced,” he added.
There are more than 95,000 people in the high-risk groups. The vaccination for the high-risk population was launched last year.
Tshering Zam /Pema Seldon Tshering
