The Scottish Social Services Council, the Care Inspectorate, Scottish Care and the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland have issued a joint statement supporting the inclusion of certain social care staff in the flu vaccination programme.
The free flu vaccine programme for 2021 will again include social care staff of all ages who have a direct hands-on care role.
Workers in the following settings are eligible:
- residential care and secure care for children
- community care for persons at home (including housing support, care at home services and personal assistants)
- care homes for adults.
This is targeted at those delivering direct care in these settings, whether they are employed by local authorities, private or third sector employers.
Scottish Care, the Care Inspectorate, the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council support this approach.
Flu can be serious
Influenza is a highly infectious disease that occurs every year, usually in the winter. Symptoms can come on very quickly and include fever, chills, headache, aches and pains in the joints and muscles, and extreme tiredness.
Healthy individuals usually recover within two to seven days, but some people are more vulnerable and for them it can increase the risk of developing more serious illnesses, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. In the worst cases, flu can result in a stay in hospital, or even death. Even for healthy people, flu can be serious, making them feel extremely unwell and unable to carry on with everyday activities
Infected health and social care workers can spread flu to people receiving care and colleagues even if they have very mild symptoms or have no symptoms at all.
The flu vaccine provides the best protection available against the virus.
- The vaccines are given in the autumn ideally before flu starts circulating.
- The vaccine contains no live viruses, so it can’t give you flu.
- You have to be immunised every year because the virus changes constantly and your immunity reduces over time.
- Influenza is a different virus from COVID-19.
Getting the vaccine
The best way for social care staff to avoid flu is to get a flu jab as part of this programme.
You can register and book your vaccine appointment on the NHS Inform website or by calling 0800 030 8013 (open 8am–8pm seven days a week).
Appointments are available from mid-September and it’s best to get your jab before winter when flu starts circulating.
The vaccine is safe, quick and free and we encourage all eligible staff to take up this opportunity to help protect themselves against flu.
If you have any questions about the flu vaccine please see www.nhsinform.scot/flu
