§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pensioners in England received immunisation against influenza in(a) the last 12 months for which figures are available, (b) the previous 12 months to that and (c) 1996. [97826]
§ Ms BlearsFrom data collected by the Public Health Laboratory Service on behalf of the Department, we know that as at 31 December 2002, 5,487,645 people aged 65 years and over were immunised against influenza. This compares to 5,135,760 people in 2001–02.
Prior to 2000, the policy on flu immunisation was to offer vaccine to people aged 75 years and over, and not to people aged 65-74. At this time, there was no systematic collection of uptake data for this age-target group of people.