PEOPLE are being advised to get a flu jab to help protect against the “double danger” of flu and coronavirus.
Research shows people can catch both diseases at the same time, with serious and sometimes deadly consequences.
More people will be offered a free flu vaccine this year – anyone over 50 in England is eligible.
A vaccine for coronavirus is not available yet and experts are worried the UK could see the virus rip through the population this winter.
Research from Public Health England looking at Covid-19 illness between January and April among nearly 20,000 hospital patients suggests the risk of death is more than doubled for people who catch flu on top of coronavirus, compared to coronavirus alone.
Flu by itself can also be a serious condition killing around 11,000 people in England each year and hospitalises many more.
People at high risk from flu are also most at risk from Covid-19.
In England, the government has increased those who are allegeable for the flu vaccine this year in and bid to reduce the spread,
Who has been offered the flu vaccine?
- People who were required to shield from coronavirus and anyone they live with
- People with some medical conditions including diabetes, heart failure and asthma
- Pregnant women
- Pre-school children over the age of two
- All primary school children, as last year, and, for the first time, Year 7 pupils
- Initially, all people over 65, before the programme is extended to the over-50s
- Healthcare and social care staff
- People living in a residential or nursing home
- People who are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person