One in three over-65s refuse seasonal flu shots

As the autumn vaccination campaign for the elderly (this year widened to include anyone over the age of 60) is being prepared, Portugal’s public health institute Doutor Ricardo Jorge has revealed that one in three over-65s traditionally refuses the jabs, out of distrust. Says a source for the institute, those refusing the shots “do not appear to be doing so because they don’t know they are recommended, but because they distrust the vaccine and do not consider themselves likely to catch the flu”.