Dr. Lorraine Doherty:

The HSE does not set vaccination policy. The vaccination policy is advised by the national immunisation advisory committee, which is an expert committee. It bases its immunisation guidelines and recommendations on the best available evidence and having a targeted approach to protect those most at risk from flu in any one season. Over the years, we have seen an extension of what we call the at-risk groups to include a wider section of the population. We already immunise all of our elderly citizens and this year we are extending flu immunisation to children aged between two and 12 years. Next year, children up to the age of 17 will be included. We continually review policy on immunisation for all infectious diseases. For the flu season, this is done annually to make sure there is no particular risk group. The majority of fit, healthy adults can have a flu infection and not have severe effects or severe sequelae after that infection. This is a live issue that we consider when we review the evidence from each flu season to see whether there is a need for additional immunisation of other groups in the population.