Flu, Dec 2025

[ColinJ]

Just well enough to go into work and spread the infection around :-)

Don't get me started on that one!

I once had an argument with a colleague about a third person who had insisted on coming in to our open plan office when suffering from a bug like the one currently sweeping the country. Argumentative colleague said that people should come to work unless they were so ill that their legs gave way when they tried to get out of bed! I said that he was risking the health of everyone else and should go home.

The inevitable happened - sick guy got worse overnight and did not come in the following day. Over the next few days, all the people who had been sitting at desks close to his came down with the bug. One martyr struggling on for 3 days ended up causing about another 3 (wo)man-weeks worth of sickness! The really stupid thing is that original sick guy had barely done any work during those 3 days - he had spent most of his time coughing, blowing his nose, and sitting back in his chair groaning ...

 

[Ming the Merciless]

wonder if anyone has made the correlation of the number of people going back to work

What do you mean, has everyone been on holiday or something?

 

[steveindenmark]

I got my covid and flu jab this week. My first as a pensioner. 😁

 

[ColinJ]

I got my covid and flu jab this week. My first as a pensioner. 😁

I got an NHS invite to go for covid and flu jabs but when I went to the clinic they checked my age and turned me down for the covid one because the rules have changed...

Eligibility​

The announced and authorised cohorts eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in AW 2025/26 are:

• residents in a care home for older adults
• all adults aged 75 years and over
• persons aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in tables 3 and 4 of the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book.

Apparently, it costs £75-100 to have it done privately.

 

[steveindenmark]

I got an NHS invite to go for covid and flu jabs but when I went to the clinic they checked my age and turned me down for the covid one because the rules have changed...

Eligibility​

The announced and authorised cohorts eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in AW 2025/26 are:

• residents in a care home for older adults
• all adults aged 75 years and over
• persons aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in tables 3 and 4 of the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book.

Apparently, it costs £75-100 to have it done privately.

75??

I am only 67 😁

 

[tom73]

As for side effects of flu jab, I've never had any other than bit of a sore arm for 24 hrs but I've still weight trained after so pretty insignificant anyway.
The vaccine is inert or not live anyway so as far as I know you cannot get symptoms?
Happy to be corrected on that but I think some use that as an excuse for not getting it.

The only one that is live and at very weak level is the nasal spray vaccine that's given to children. Children in at risk groups are normally offered the inactivated vaccination injection via their GP.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The vaccine is inert or not live anyway so as far as I know you cannot get symptoms?

Vaccines trigger immune reactions, that is how they work. The symptoms are your immune system kicking into gear. In effect it’s a controlled dose to train your immune system.

 

[Binky]

From the NHS website :

Side effects of the flu vaccine​

The most common side effects of the flu vaccine are mild and get better within 1 to 2 days.

They can include:

• pain or soreness where the injection was given
• a slightly raised temperature
• an aching body

More serious side effects such as a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) are very rare. The person who vaccinates you will be trained to deal with allergic reactions and treat them immediately.

The injected flu vaccines used in the UK do not contain live flu viruses. They cannot give you flu.

So as I thought, not a live virus and it cannot give you flu.

 

[briantrumpet]

No idea why I was offered the flu jab free this year at a mere 61, unless it's waiting for an op that ticks a box.

 

[ColinJ]

75??

I am only 67 😁

And I am not quite 70. I got the jabs free until this year but will now have to wait another 5 years, unless the rules are changed again.

No idea why I was offered the flu jab free this year at a mere 61, unless it's waiting for an op that ticks a box.

That will be it...

Age: 65 and over (including those who will turn 65 by March 31, 2026).

Medical Conditions: You have a long-term health condition, such as:

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma
• Heart, kidney, or liver problems
• Diabetes
• A neurological condition (e.g., Parkinson's disease, motor neurone disease)
• A learning disability
• A weakened immune system due to illness or medication
• A BMI of 40 or over

 

[Punkawallah]

Don't get me started on that one!

Employers seem remarkably short sighted on this one.

 

[Punkawallah]

What do you mean, has everyone been on holiday or something?

Yeah. Mainly the ‘lanyard classes’.

 

[Punkawallah]

From the NHS website :


So as I thought, not a live virus and it cannot give you flu.

Has science taught you nothing about making definitive statements like this? What did the NHS say about Thalidomide, Factor Eight and Sodium Valproate?

 

[briantrumpet]

And I am not quite 70. I got the jabs free until this year but will now have to wait another 5 years, unless the rules are changed again.


That will be it...

Age: 65 and over (including those who will turn 65 by March 31, 2026).

Medical Conditions: You have a long-term health condition, such as:

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma
• Heart, kidney, or liver problems
• Diabetes
• A neurological condition (e.g., Parkinson's disease, motor neurone disease)
• A learning disability
• A weakened immune system due to illness or medication
• A BMI of 40 or over

Aha, thanks. Impressed that it was automatically picked up by the system.

 

[tom73]

Aha, thanks. Impressed that it was automatically picked up by the system.

If only it was as seamless as it looks , it's not quite automatic. It all depends on you having been given the right clinical coding. Then someone at the surgery still needs to search and come up with the list. Which then can be set to issue an invite.