Millions of people are being urged to have flu and Covid vaccines after experts said they were increasingly worried about a bad flu spike this winter. Officials at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned there will be lower levels of natural immunity to flu this year after a few winters when people socialised far less due to the Covid pandemic.
One expert said they were more worried about flu this year than they had been for several years. The UKHSA warned of a possible “difficult winter” ahead as respiratory viruses, including flu and Covid, circulate widely.
International surveillance shows the UK can expect the spread of H3N2 (a subtype of influenza type A), which is currently the most commonly detected flu virus worldwide. H3N2 has recently caused waves of infection in countries including Australia, which has just had its winter. The vaccine used by the UK is designed to fight this strain.
