ALMOST 70,000 children in Oxfordshire are set to get vaccinated against flu.

Children aged two and three, all primary school students, and pupils in Year 7 will be offered the free flu vaccination through the NHS.

Nurses from the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust will be vaccinating about 68,000 children in the county this autumn and winter.

The team will start administering nasal vaccines to children from Monday.

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Fiona Singleton, immunisation team leader, said: “It’s really important, this year particularly, that children have their immunisation against influenza.

“They can be super-spreaders of the virus and while they can get very poorly with flu, they can also quickly infect other household members.”

Dr Kiren Collison, clinical chair of Oxfordshire CCG, added: “Flu spreads easily and by getting your child vaccinated you will be protecting them and those around them.

“The flu vaccine for children is a quick and painless nasal spray.”

With concerns that coronavirus and flu have similar symptoms, parents are advised to keep children at home and request a Covid-19 test if they have a continuous cough, high temperature, or loss of or change in sense of taste or smell.