This year, the Manx Care Vaccination Service will be offering the seasonal childhood nasal flu vaccine to children in school years Reception to Year 11, and will be visiting all schools in September and October.
The vaccine is recommended to help protect your child against flu. Flu can be an unpleasant illness and sometimes causes serious complications. Vaccinating your child will also help protect other vulnerable family members and friends by preventing the spread of the flu virus. Most children are offered a nasal spray vaccine which is a quick, simple and painless spray up the nose. The vaccine is given as 0.1ml of liquid into each nostril, so there are no needles and it is a safe method of delivery for most children. A small number of children will require the flu vaccine via injection, which is available by registering with the Manx Care Vaccination Services on 111 / 01624 822111 or vaccinations@gov.im.
The link to more detailed information explaining the vaccination programme is below:
www.gov.im/childhoodflu
This webpage has details about the small number of children for whom the nasal vaccine is not appropriate. The nasal spray vaccine contains a very small amount of gelatine from pigs (porcine gelatine) as an essential ingredient to keep it stable and able to work. For those who may not accept medicines or vaccines that contain porcine gelatine, a flu vaccine injection is available. The webpage also has a link to the online consent form.
You only need to complete the form if you want your child to receive the vaccine. Please only complete one consent form per child to avoid the risk of duplication.
Alternatively, there are hard copies of the consent form available at your child’s school reception. We would ask that you complete the consent form no later than 5th September 2025.
On this consent form, you will be asked a series of questions about your child’s health to assess their eligibility for the nasal flu vaccine. If you answer yes to any of these questions, a member of the team may contact you to discuss this further.
It is important to note that once the consent form has been completed, you should notify us as soon as possible if there are any changes to your child’s health. If your child has become wheezy, had an asthma attack, had to increase their use of a reliever inhaler, or has started steroids in the 3 days before immunisation is scheduled, please let the vaccination team know via the email address below, either before or on the day of your child’s immunisation.
Should you have any further questions or concerns regarding your child receiving their flu immunisation, please do not hesitate to contact the team at the email address below.
FluVaccinationEnquiries.DHSC@gov.im
Below is the link to the Patient Information leaflet for the Fluenz Trivalent nasal spray which provides essential information about the vaccine and its possible side effects. It is recommended that you read this information prior to giving consent for your child to have the vaccine.
https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/15790/pil#gref
Data Protection
Manx Care respects your right to privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. You can access Manx Care's Privacy Notice, including information on how to exercise any of your rights under the Data Protection Act 2018.
