Tom Chivers

Winter is coming: do you really need a flu jab?

Winter is coming. You can tell because the days are drawing in, the light has that autumnal greyness, and the first bloody advent calendars are in the shops. Also, those of us who are old, pregnant or still in nappies are reminded reminded to take our flu jabs.

The Telegraph, among other outlets, is reporting that two million UK children will be eligible for the new nasal-spray influenza vaccine this year; it’s been extended to include four-year-olds as well as the two- and three-year-olds who were eligible last year.

I’m hugely wary of any sort of criticism of vaccination programmes, because the sort of people who criticise them are usually homeopathy-using cranks who think the CIA is controlling them through their tooth fillings, and because vaccination is clearly one of the great public health breakthroughs of the last two centuries.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in