The proportion of adults aged 65 or older who are vaccinated this year is lower than during the same period last year.
People in this age group are at a higher risk of developing serious flu complications compared with younger, healthy adults.
According to figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), between September 2nd and January 5th some 72.5 per cent of older adults were vaccinated against the flu, compared to almost 75 per cent during the same time last winter.
For children aged 17 and under, there has been an increase in uptake from 15.9 per cent to 19.1 per cent, though this remains quite a low proportion which is a concern among health chiefs.
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Health Service Executive chief clinical officer Colm Henry said the uptake of the vaccine this year has been “disappointing” as the system has grappled with a surge of the virus.
Among those in at-risk groups for whom vaccination is recommended, children aged 13 to 17 have the lowest uptake at 12 per cent.
Roscommon has the lowest proportion of over 60s vaccinated at 40.8 per cent, followed by Offaly at 45.3 per cent and Donegal at 47.7 per cent.
Wexford was the county with the highest proportion of over 60s being vaccinated at 72 per cent, followed by Wicklow at 71.7 per cent and Westmeath at 70 per cent.
Roscommon also had the lowest uptake among those aged 50 to 59 being vaccinated at 10.9 per cent, followed by 12.2 per cent in Donegal and 12.5 per cent in Cavan.
According to the HSE, there were 678 people in hospital with the flu on Wednesday. This figure has come down slightly in recent days, but there remains a high level of flu circulating in the community.
There were 65 adults in intensive care due to influenza, as well as five children, but Dr Henry said this number has begun to “plateau”.
“The uptake of the RSV vaccine has been very high, and that’s very positive. There’s been a huge drop in notified cases, admissions and ICU,” he said.
About 83 per cent of eligible babies have received the vaccine against RSV in a new vaccination programme against the virus. Babies born between September 2024 and February 2025 are eligible for the jab.
“There has also been really good uptake [of flu vaccine] in the long-term residential care facilities. That’s really positive because it shows we still see a group of people who are very receptive of the protections available to them.”
Dr Henry said, however, there are two cohorts of people for whom uptake has been disappointing: children and healthcare workers.
“Healthcare workers, who responded wonderfully during the Covid pandemic, based on our data, which probably underreports the uptake but, nevertheless, it is not nearly where we would like it to be. It’s around 30 per cent,” he said.
“If you look at the distribution of hospitalisations ... about 17.5 per cent are aged less than five. Last flu season, we saw over 1,000 children in hospital with flu so it is not without risk. For this reason, we have advocated for the nasal vaccine for those aged two to 17.”
Dr Henry said cases in the community are likely peaking, but the country could see a further rise in cases in the coming weeks due to the return to work and school after the festive period.
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