Do you vaccinate employees that are over 65 years old?

To continue to provide the best possible protection for those 65 years and over, an enhanced trivalent vaccine is being supplied for those aged 65 years and over under the National Immunisation Program (NIP). 

As our onsite flu program (or any other employer initiated flu program) is not part of the NIP, we do not stock this vaccine recommended for people aged over 65. We identify employees over 65 and encourage them to see their GP to receive this vaccine; however, we will offer the quadrivalent flu vaccine on request from an individual even if they are over 65.

Vaccination is crucial for people in this age group as they are at high risk of complications from influenza and have the highest influenza-associated death rates each year.

The quadrivalent influenza vaccine Fluad Quad® is provided for people aged 65 years and older. It is an adjuvanted (or enhanced) vaccine, a standard dose flu vaccine with an added adjuvant to help create a more robust immune response to the vaccination.

The enhanced quadrivalent influenza vaccine is the best form of protection against flu for the older population for the following reasons:

• Older people do not respond to standard influenza vaccines as the immune system response decreases with age.
• The enhanced vaccine is explicitly designed to increase the immune system's response to the vaccine, especially against the influenza A/H3N2 strain, which is more common and severe in people aged 65 years and older.

Source and credit to https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/immunisation/service-providers/influenza