Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said it is not too late to get vaccinated for the flu during a visit to the Ulster Hospital’s vaccination centre on Thursday morning.
“This is a particularly bad flu season because it’s come very early and it’s hitting really hard,” he said.
“The best defence against catching the flu is the vaccine.”
The current uptake of the flu vaccine in Northern Ireland is about 67% in those over 65 – which is less than the World Health Organization’s recommendation, external of 75%.
Rachel Spiers, the senior immunisation programme manager at the PHA said they would like to reach that target this year.
“Uptake generally has declined in the last decade among all age ranges,” she said.
Ms Speirs added uptake among children aged between two and four has been particularly low in recent years.
“We would strongly encourage parents to come forward to vaccinate their preschool child,” she said.
“Similarly it has been a wee bit lower in the schools programme as well so we would like to see that much higher.”
