SANOFI'S Fluzone High-Dose influenza vaccine for people aged 65+ will no longer be funded by the Australian Government on the National Immunisation Program (NIP) this year.
With advancing years causing a reduction in the immune response in vaccinated people, the four-times higher antigen dose was specifically designed to force the recipients' immune system to mount a more serious response.
Fluzone High-Dose trivalent vaccine was added to the NIP in 2018 in response to a public health crisis following the worst Australian influenza season on record in 2017.
During that season, more than 250,000 laboratory-confirmed influenza cases were reported.
This was three times the number in 2016, with 29,000 influenza-related hospital admissions and at least 1,100 deaths.
Significantly, more than 90% of those deaths occurred in people aged 65 and over, implying a compromised immune response to standard dose vaccine.
Russell Jacobson, General Manager, Sanofi Pasteur Australia and New Zealand expressed disappointment that the Government is not funding Fluzone High-Dose for older adults this year.
"We believe this is bad news for the older population who are at higher risk of developing serious complications from flu such as hospitalisation, pneumonia, heart attack or death," Jacobson said.
"Fluzone High-Dose has been clinically proven to protect against influenza and its complications such as hospitalisation among older adults."
Patients who choose to buy Fluzone may still do so by asking their doctor for a private script to fill at their pharmacy.
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