Flu Vaccination

• Appointment only

  This year you should book your appointment online with our new appointment booking tool or by popping in when next passing your local LloydsPharmacy to ensure you have a slot allocated.

• Complete Questionnaire

  There is a short questionnaire you need to complete, and it is best that this is done in advance of your flu vaccination. Your local Lloydspharmacy will give you the leaflet to complete in advance or you can download it from our website. It is best this is handed in to the pharmacy in advance of your flu vaccination to reduce the amount of time required in Pharmacy during your Flu vaccination appointment. You can download the form below.

• Free from Symptoms

  On the day of your appointment if you have symptoms of COVID-19 or any flu like symptoms you MUST cancel or rebook. When you arrive for your appointment, you will be asked a short series of questions to confirm that you do not have any symptoms.

• Dress appropriately

  It is recommended in all healthcare settings to wear a face covering. When it comes to preparing for your appointment, you should wear appropriate clothing for a vaccination to be administered to your upper arm.

• Arrive on time

  If you arrive too early you may be asked to return closer to your allotted time.

• Children

  For children getting the vaccination, you should bring something to distract them and talk about face coverings beforehand (as the pharmacist will be wearing a face covering), so they aren’t unfamiliar on the day. All children aged under 16 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

• The Vaccine

  Once you are happy, the pharmacist will administer the vaccine, this is a quick and relatively painless procedure. Afterwards, you will be asked to remain in the pharmacy for 15 mins to make sure everything went well.

Who should receive the Flu Vaccine?

Groups eligible to receive a HSE free vaccine: Getting the flu vaccine - HSE.ie

While everyone should consider getting a flu vaccine, it is especially important that the following groups get vaccinated:

• People aged 65 years and over
• Children aged 2-17 years
• Pregnant
• People (adults and children) with long-term medical conditions such as diabetes, chronic heart conditions, liver conditions, kidney conditions and chronic lung disease including COPD, or neurological diseases
• People with cancer
• People whose immune system is impaired due to disease or treatment
• People who are obese who have a body mass index (BMI) of over 40
• People with Down syndrome
• Residents of nursing homes and other long-stay institutions
• Healthcare workers
• Carers
• People who live in the same house as someone who is at risk of flu because of a medical condition
• People with regular close contact with poultry, water fowl or pigs.

*please speak to your pharmacist for more information

Who should NOT get the vaccine?

• You will not be able to receive the vaccine if you are taking combination checkpoint inhibitors, i.e. two or more of either avelumab, ipilimumab, nivolumab, pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, durvalumab or cemipilimab.
• You will not be able to receive the vaccine if you have severe neutropoenia (absolute neutrophil count < 0.5 x 109/L) should not receive any vaccines, to avoid an acute vaccine related febrile episode.

Your pharmacist will refer you to your GP if you have:

• had previous anaphylaxis to vaccine or any of its components or excipients.
• hypersensitivity to the active substances, to any of the excipients, to residues, to egg and to chicken protein

Your child should not get the intranasal vaccine if they:

• have had a severe allergic reaction to a previous dose of the flu vaccine or any of its ingredients
• have severe asthma or if they have been wheezy or needed their inhaler more than usual in the three days before the vaccination
• are taking medicines called salicylates, which include Aspirin
• have a severely weakened immune system because of certain medical conditions or treatments
• are living with someone who has a severely weakened immune system (for example, a person who recently had a bone marrow transplant)
• If your child cannot get the flu vaccine using a nasal spray (nose spray), your pharmacist will talk to you about giving your child a different flu vaccine, which is given by injection. The intranasal vaccine is contraindicated in pregnancy