Significantly More Demand for Influenza Vaccination

In Austria, around 180,000 more people have already been vaccinated against influenza than in the entire previous season. This was emphasized by the health insurance fund ÖGK on Thursday. According to the vaccination data dashboard, 997,178 immunizations against the "real flu" were entered into the e-vaccination pass by the end of last week. The flu wave has started about four weeks earlier than in previous seasons. However, it is still a good time to get vaccinated now.

Immune system needs about two weeks

The flu season usually lasts until March, as emphasized in the ÖGK release. After vaccination, the immune system needs about 14 days to build up full immune protection. The advice is that especially high-risk patients, people over 60 years old, and children should still be vaccinated. For children from two years old, the vaccine is available in many places as a nasal spray.

The majority of the vaccinations available free of charge for the entire population are carried out by general practitioners, where the vaccine is available directly after making an appointment - without detour to the pharmacy. "I can only appeal to the population to take advantage of the free vaccination offer - for their own protection and the protection of their surroundings," emphasized ÖGK chief physician Andreas Krauter. Additionally, the ÖGK recommends regularly ventilating indoor spaces, frequent hand washing and disinfecting, as well as wearing a mask in larger crowds.

More influenza than corona vaccinations

The approximately one million influenza vaccinations entered into the e-vaccination pass this autumn so far are compared to 349,357 booster vaccinations against Covid-19. The corona vaccination is recommended according to the Austrian vaccination plan for everyone from the age of twelve who wants to reduce the risk of a possible severe course of illness.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.