A pledge to give those aged 50 to 59 in Scotland a flu jab in the 2020/21 immunisation programme has been ditched to focus on covid-19 vaccinations.

It was announced last year that this winter would see the biggest ever flu vaccination programme due to fears that having flu and covid-19 at the same time could lead to much worse outcomes.

Around two million Scots were on an expanded list to get free flu jabs.

New cohorts that became eligible for the first time included care workers providing direct support, those living with someone who was shielding and over-55s.

The government said it would aim to expand vaccination to 50-55-year-olds if there were sufficient supplies.

But a letter sent today to the whole of the NHS in Scotland by the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer and interim Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, states the last two groups will not receive their jabs and the focus will switch to boosting the covid-19 vaccination programme given the greater risks posted by coronavirus.

The letter states: ‘Flu surveillance indicates that overall levels of seasonal flu remains very low and therefore the risks associated with flu are considerably lower than in previous years.

‘Equally, given we have prioritised the flu vaccine to those in the highest clinical risk, even with this low level of prevalence, those in greatest need have already received protection, with higher vaccination uptake rates being achieved across all Health Boards this year.

‘It is however, clear that in terms of risk, Covid-19 remains far more prevalent than seasonal flu.

‘The new variant 'VOC –202012/01' poses a further risk to public health, given the increased transmissibility of this variant.’

Flu vaccine stocks that are left over will be used to provide ‘opportunistic’ vaccinations for the most at-risk groups.

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