Min­is­ter of Health, Ter­rence Deyals­ingh, is urg­ing cit­i­zens to fol­low his ex­am­ple and get their flu shots, as the 2021 flu sea­son be­gins.

“We re­al­ly need the pop­u­la­tion to take the flu shot. If too many per­sons need hos­pi­tal care be­cause of the flu, this can over­whelm the health sys­tem and the health care work­ers who are al­ready deal­ing with COVID-19,” com­ment­ed the Min­is­ter.

He added: “While there is no vac­cine for COVID-19, there is one for the flu.”

The Min­is­ter rolled up his sleeves to­day, Thurs­day 1 Oc­to­ber 2020, and en­sured he was vac­ci­nat­ed against the In­fluen­za (flu) virus.

The shot was ad­min­is­tered by Di­rec­tor of Women’s Health, Dr. Adesh Sir­jus­ingh, who care­ful­ly sani­tised his hands be­fore ad­min­is­ter­ing the flu vac­cine.

Al­though the flu vac­cine is free and avail­able for every­one at health cen­tres, Min­is­ter Deyals­ingh urged per­sons in high risk groups, like him­self, to get their flu vac­cine ear­ly.

Per­sons in high-risk groups in­clude:

●  Chil­dren aged 6 months to 5 years;

●  Adults 60 years of age and over;

●  Preg­nant women;

●  Per­sons suf­fer­ing from Non Com­mu­ni­ca­ble Dis­eases (e.g. Di­a­betes, Hy­per­ten­sion, Heart Dis­ease);

●  Per­sons with com­pro­mised im­mune sys­tems (e.g. per­sons with Lu­pus, can­cer pa­tients);

●  Per­sons with chron­ic res­pi­ra­to­ry ill­ness­es (e.g. Asth­ma, Chron­ic Ob­struc­tive Pul­monary Dis­ease);

●  Mem­bers of the Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty Forces and Cus­toms and Im­mi­gra­tion Di­vi­sion; and

●  Health­care work­ers.