The Office of Health Gain has said it hopes 65 per cent of people in vulnerable groups will receive vaccination against the flu this year. These groups include people over the age of 65 and younger people who have diabetes, suppressed immune systems or chronic lung, heart or kidney diseases.
Last year, an estimated 50 per cent of these groups received the vaccine, according to the director of the Office for Health Gain, Mr Kieran Hickey. The office acts as a health promotion body for the health boards.
Speaking at the start of the campaign for vaccination, the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, said that while the annual immunisation campaign in previous years had been reasonably successful in preventing outbreaks, there was a need to step up efforts.
"A range of elements will be in place this year which should help improve uptake of the vaccine and also our ability to monitor the incidence of the disease during the winter season," he said.
Mr Martin announced that a fee would be paid to GPs to administer the vaccine. Last year, a dispute arose between the health boards and GPs over payment for the vaccine. Non-medical card holders can now get the vaccines free and pay their GP a consultation fee, while medical card holders receive vaccination completely free.
Mr Martin said his Department had advised health boards to ensure that healthcare workers dealing with patients in hospitals and nursing homes received the vaccine. "This will provide protection both for the workers themselves and the patients in their care," he said.
A pilot influenza surveillance system had also been set up to identify the viruses in circulation and to estimate the effectiveness of the vaccination programme, the Minister said.
He said he would be urging people in vulnerable groups to get the vaccine. The Minister said he wanted to dispel the myth that vaccination can bring on flu symptoms. "Influenza vaccine contains inactivated influenza virus and so it cannot bring on influenza," he said.
Mr Tom Kelly, chairman of the working group on vaccination representing the health boards, said the involvement of each health board would ensure the immunisation campaign reached regional and local levels. He added that the working group would ensure mixed messages about the vaccine were not sent out.
Dr Brian Coffey, chairman of the Irish College of General Practitioners, said it had sent out information to GPs on how to encourage vulnerable patients to get the vaccine.
Dr Sheelagh Ryan, chairman of the Office for Health Gain, said a media campaign would begin soon to stress the importance of the vaccine. "This is not new, it has been in place for a number of years. However, this year is different and is an enhancement on the campaigns in previous years," she said.