Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is only a 20% uptake of the flu vaccine for children at national level and GPs are saying the exact same thing. It is crucial that we encourage parents to bring children for an appointment with their GP or a pharmacist. The nasal spray makes the vaccine easy for children to take. Best of all, it is free for children between the ages of two and 12. Families will be coming together at Christmas and it is crucial that parents know there is no possibility of their children passing the winter flu to older loved ones.It is extremely infectious, it passes easily from person to person, and we deal with it every winter period. Children who are sick miss out on going to crèche, playing sport and playing with their friends, and they can also get serious complications from the flu. Children can be admitted to hospital with follow-on bronchitis or pneumonia. The HSE has noted that in the past ten years 5,000 children were admitted to hospital due to complications from the winter flu, and some with serious consequences. Getting this winter flu nasal spray will help in keeping people out of hospital, and freeing up beds for those in need during this Covid-19 pandemic. GPs have recently expressed concern about the short shelf life of the winter flu nasal spray, which is only 18 weeks. They have the capacity to deliver, however we need a co-ordinated national campaign to encourage take-up of this nasal spray for the winter flu. I am calling on the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and the Department of Health officials to develop an immediate, targeted television, print and social media campaign to increase take-up in the next few weeks so that more parents bring their children to get the nasal spray vaccine. I urge parents to bring their children to get the free nasal spray. It is a very simple procedure and by taking their children to get the spray, they will make a difference by keeping people out of hospital.