Misinformation and vaccine fatigue has ‘inundated’ hospitals with flu patients, says consultant
Vaccine hesitancy and misinformation must be addressed before the next flu season, a respiratory consultant has urged, as the number of very sick patients remain high.
The social contract, which saw people get the covid-19 vaccine to help protect more vulnerable people, is “not as strong as it was”, according to Professor Patrick Mitchell.
The first week of January saw 3,802 flu cases, with 956 admitted to hospital. Seven people died and thousands of patients were unable to get a bed in overcrowded hospitals.
Prof. Mitchell, consultant at Tallaght University Hospital, said wards are “inundated” with flu patients this week. “A patient with flu can be admitted for 14 to 21 days, so it can be quite severe and very debilitating,” he said.
“It takes its toll in terms of their rehabilitation to get back on their feet. This places a significant stress on an already pressured system.”
The HSE has also raised concerns about the low flu vaccine uptake.
Professor Patrick Mitchell, consultant respiratory physician at Tallaght University Hospital and at Trinity College Dublin, said wards are ‘inundated’ with flu patients this week.
“There is vaccine hesitancy and there is vaccine fatigue so individuals are coming out the other side of the pandemic where there were multiple uptakes of vaccines,” he said.
“Individuals are fearful of vaccines, more fearful than they have been in the past. They are fatigued at having to get more and more vaccines and we understand that. There is also misinformation.”
People are pushing disinformation campaigns about autism links which have been clearly debunked, he said. “This is hugely affecting people’s perception of the safety of getting vaccines.”
Prof. Mitchell called for a change in how vaccines are promoted here. “I think education campaigns (are needed),” he said, and campaigns to counter vaccine disinformation online.
He said:
There’s a social contract, it’s not just you getting the vaccine, it’s who you are going to be seeing.
“The social contract needs to be advocated for.”
Overcrowding on top of the cold weather has already seen elective operations postponed in some hospitals.
New figures show 673,962 people on hospital waiting lists, according to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. Another 29,450 have a date for inpatient, day case or endoscopy care.
The Department of Health defended the efforts to tackle these waiting lists. Average waiting times have dropped to 6.5 months compared to 7.2 months last year.
