Queensland pushes for free flu jabs nationwide

The Queensland government says it will push for the commonwealth to roll out free flu vaccinations across the nation every year, after announcing its own one-off program amid an outbreak of the virus.

The state government on Monday said it would spend as much as much as $10m on subsidising the vaccine, citing low vaccination rates across the state.

The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said this year’s influenza B strain was particularly severe and encouraged people to get vaccinated.

“I don’t want there to be any barriers to getting the flu jab, which is why I am reinstating free flu vaccinations for all Queenslanders,” Palaszczuk said.

“If you are sick, please stay at home. That includes children going to school.”

A pharmacist prepares a vaccination

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The health minister, Shannon Fentiman, said she believed the federal government should fund the vaccination through the national immunisation program.

The program provides free vaccines to children, old people and high-risk groups for diseases like measles, mumps and rubella among others, according to the immunisation schedule.

“Wouldn’t it be better for everyone if this was part of the national immunisation program?” Fentiman said.

She said she will use this week’s meeting of Australia’s health ministers to push the idea.

“Queensland’s position is this should be made free every year, for flu, and that’s the position that I’ll be putting to the federal minister and our state and territory counterparts,” she said.

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“This should be something that every individual can access for free.”

The state’s chief health officer, Dr John Gerrard, said the Queensland government was stepping in this year because rates of flu were so high.

“The number of people in intensive care with Covid is significantly smaller than those with influenza,” he said.

He said due to the high rates of Covid vaccinations “influenza, at the moment, in the unimmunised, is clearly a worse disease than Covid”.

There have been 51,426 reported cases of flu in Queensland this year, with 3,676 people sent to hospital. Of those, 35 have been sent to the ICU, while 56 people have died.