{"id":461882,"date":"2026-02-06T08:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T08:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/461882\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T08:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T08:21:09","slug":"queenslands-free-influenza-vaccine-program-to-return-this-year-with-nasal-spray-for-children-aged-two-to-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/461882\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland’s free influenza vaccine program to return this year with nasal spray for children aged two to five"},"content":{"rendered":"

Needle-free, nasal spray influenza vaccines will be rolled out for young Queensland children during this year’s flu season.<\/p>\n

The state government has confirmed it is extending its free flu jab program for another year, which will commence in March and end in September.<\/p>\n

It will include a nasal spray vaccine for kids aged two to five years, in what Health Minister Tim Nicholls said was an Australian first.<\/p>\n

“This nasal spray vaccination is expected to improve vaccine uptake amongst young kids by removing potential distress about needle vaccinations,” he said.<\/p>\n

Growing scepticism about flu vaccines marks season<\/a><\/p>\n

Queensland hospitals have reported being overwhelmed with patients suffering from respiratory illnesses as experts sound the alarm about growing vaccine mistrust.<\/p>\n

The free flu vaccine program applies to all Queenslanders aged six months and over \u2014 and can be accessed at GP clinics, pharmacies, or community centres.<\/p>\n

As of December 14 last year, Queensland had recorded more than 95,000 influenza cases, which was 21 per cent higher than at the same time the previous year.<\/p>\n

There were also over 300 deaths related to the flu in 2025.<\/p>\n

According to the government, about 74 per cent of flu-related hospitalisations and 63 per cent of flu-related deaths were among those who were unvaccinated.<\/p>\n

Chief Health Officer Marianne Gale urged Queenslanders to get the flu jab.<\/p>\n

“No-one wants to be stuck in bed, or in hospital, missing work, school, family events or holidays, and that’s why prevention matters,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The free flu vaccination program aims to reduce demand on healthcare services by lowering the number and severity of avoidable hospital admissions, leading to fewer occupied hospital bed days.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dr Marianne Gale has urged Queenslanders not to skip the influenza vaccine. (ABC News: Christopher Gillette)<\/p>\n

Families with children aged over five who also want the spray vaccine will need to pay for it privately.<\/p>\n

“We don’t know exactly yet what the prices will be,” Dr Gale said.<\/p>\n

“Our priority [for funding the spray] is focusing on the age groups that are most at risk of severe illness and that is really our younger children.”<\/p>\n

The new CHO said the influenza spray is approved in Australia for use in children aged from two to 17 years old, inclusive.<\/p>\n

Last year, 1.74 million Queenslanders got the flu vaccine, which equated to about 28 per cent of the eligible population.<\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Steven Miles welcomed the announcement of the free flu vaccine extension.<\/p>\n

But he also hit out at Premier David Crisafulli’s decision last year not to say whether he had got the influenza vaccine.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Steven Miles criticised David Crisafulli’s refusal last year to say whether he had had the vaccine or not. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)<\/p>\n

“We welcome their decision to provide the vaccine for free, but we call on them to end the mixed messages,” Mr Miles said.<\/p>\n

At the time, Mr Crisafulli suggested his vaccination status was between him and his doctor.<\/p>\n

In June, there was a 48-hour pause on elective surgeries at Queensland’s largest hospitals because they were overwhelmed by patients with the flu and COVID-19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Needle-free, nasal spray influenza vaccines will be rolled out for young Queensland children during this year’s flu season.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,144,237117,137,145,116705,15878,50671,992,4886,7277],"class_list":["post-461882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-flu","tag-flu-jab","tag-health","tag-influenza","tag-nasal-spray","tag-queensland-government","tag-respiratory-diseases","tag-tim-nicholls","tag-vaccine","tag-virus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}