Beijing citizens to get free flu shots

People aged 60 years and more and students of primary and middle schools in Beijing will be able to get free flu vaccines from Oct 10 to Nov 30, the city's Health Bureau said on Monday.

Eligible people can go to local health institutions to get vaccinated, while students can get vaccinated in their schools if a temporary inoculation station has been set up there.

According to the Health Bureau, the two kinds of flu vaccines that the city will provide include antigens that produce antibodies against the H1N1 Flu, the H3N2 Flu and the Yamagata Flu, based on the guidelines for the Northern hemisphere flu vaccine that the World Health Organization provided for the 2012-2013 flu season.

More than 1.6 million people got vaccinated against the flu in 2011, including 1.4 million who got vaccinated for free, significantly reducing the incidence of flu symptoms, said the bureau.

The city began providing free flu shots for people aged 60 and over and for primary and middle school students in 2007. The annual vaccination campaign starts in September or October and usually lasts over a month.