The flu nasal spray is a pain-free alternative to the annual injection and aims to improve immunisation rates among children. Photo: NSW Health Instagram.
Young children in NSW can now access their annual free flu vaccinations without the need for a needle, with a new nasal spray being rolled out in the hope of boosting falling vaccination rates in the vulnerable population.
Two-, three- and four-year-olds across the state are now eligible for a gentle, painless and needle-free alternative to the flu jab, with families urged to act now before influenza starts to circulate and spread through communities.
“Influenza is extremely dangerous, particularly for young children, and that’s why we’ve targeted this age group,” Health Minister Ryan Park said.
“They’re often in daycare, in childcare facilities, and when the flu strikes them, it can have devastating consequences.
“As a part of this trialling period over the next six months, over 133,000 vials will be available in terms of this FluMist product.”
Despite the increased risk, only around a quarter of children under five years old were vaccinated against the flu last year.
But by removing the need for a needle, it is hoped barriers such as parental apprehension and guilt will be reduced and the number of vaccinated children will climb closer to the 40 per cent target set in the NSW Immunisation Strategy 2024-2028.
“What we’ve seen in places like the UK is when they’ve adopted this type of FluMist, their vaccination rates and levels have gone up for those young children,” Mr Park said.
Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) NSW/ACT chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman added: “Having needle-free vaccines for children aged two to four, at no cost to parents, is a game-changing policy.
“Two-thirds of kids, and about a quarter of adults, have a strong fear of needles. As GPs, we know that’s a big barrier to achieving the immunity our young patients need.
“For these children and their parents, that barrier is now gone. More young children will be vaccinated, and that means fewer families in hospital and less pressure on our health system.”
It comes following the worst flu season on record, with 186,768 influenza notifications in NSW in 2025 — a 15.8 per cent jump from 2024, and almost 80 per cent more than in 2023.
There were more than 24,500 cases of influenza in children under five in NSW, more than 4600 presentations from this age group to emergency departments with flu-like illness, and more than 960 hospital admissions.
And Dr Hoffman said things looked on track to be just as severe this year.
“We’re really concerned, not just for hospitalisation but for time off work,” she said.
“Towards the end of flu season last year, where we started seeing the K strain, people that would normally get hit and have a day or two off work and then be able to return were being smashed for a week or two and really having long stays off work.
“As a mum, knowing that you take so much time off work when your kids have back-to-back viruses over winter, if this is one less virus they get, one less nasty virus that they get that isn’t going to spread through the whole family and mean I need to have several weeks off work, it’s fantastic.”
While the mist is only currently available for two- to four-year-olds, flu vaccine injections are free for children aged six months to five years, pregnant women, Aboriginal people aged six months and over, anyone aged 65 years and over, and people with serious health conditions.
In addition to staying up to date with vaccinations, which is recommended yearly for everyone six months and older, community members are being reminded to take simple steps to protect themselves and others from respiratory illness. Measures include staying home if they’re sick and wearing a mask if they need to go out, avoiding crowded spaces, getting together in well-ventilated spaces, considering doing rapid antigen tests before visiting people at higher risk, making a plan with their doctor if they are at higher risk, and practising good general hygiene such as regular handwashing.
And if the trial of the nasal spray is as successful as hoped, it could become an option for even more people.
“We’re hoping that this year shows a really big uptake, that lots of people say that this is successful, and then we’re able to expand that to a bigger cohort of patients,” Dr Hoffman said.
The mist and flu injection are available at GPs, Aboriginal Medical Services and community pharmacies.
For more information on influenza and vaccinations, visit the NSW Health website.
Original Article published by Keeli Dyson on Region Illawarra.
