The first pop-up clinic in Bournemouth to offer winter flu jabs to homeless people has been held as part of a national vaccination campaign.
The NHS is offering people with increased health risks due to sleeping rough or living without fixed accommodation a free flu jab for the first time this winter.
More than 40 people were vaccinated and received health checks at the Winter Wellness session at St Swithun’s Church in Bournemouth
Paul Bolton, clinical service manager at Dorset Healthcare, said the vaccination scheme was protecting those “most at risk”.
Thirty-five thousand people sleeping rough or using homeless hostels or night-shelters are being targeted as part of the national programme to provide flu and pneumococcal disease vaccines.
These patients are seen as facing increased health risks from these viruses due to exposure, underlying health conditions, poor living conditions, poor nutrition, high levels of stress and limited access to healthcare.