Flu

• People aged 65 years and older
• People of any age who are residents of long-term care facilities
• Adults (including pregnant women) and children with the following chronic health conditions:
  • Cardiac or pulmonary disorders (e.g., bronchopulmonary dysplasia, cystic fibrosis, asthma)
  • Diabetes and other metabolic diseases
  • Cancer; immunodeficiency (including human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] infection); immunosuppression due to underlying disease or therapy (e.g. severe rheumatoid arthritis requiring immunosuppressive therapies)
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Chronic liver disease, including hepatitis C
  • Anemia and hemoglobinopathy
  • Conditions that compromise the management of respiratory secretions and are associated with an increased risk of aspiration (e.g. cognitive dysfunction, spinal cord injury, seizure disorder, and neuromuscular disorders)
• Children and adolescents (6 months to 18 years) with conditions treated for long periods with acetylsalicylic acid
• Children and adults who are morbidly obese (adult BMI ≥ 40; child BMI assessed as ≥ 95th percentile adjusted for age and sex)
• Indigenous Peoples
• Healthy children (6 to 59 months)
• Pregnant people at any stage of pregnancy during the flu season (typically spanning Nov - Apr)
• Inmates of provincial correctional institutions
• People working with live poultry (immunization may reduce the potential for human-avian re-assortment of genes should such workers become co-infected with human and avian flu.)

• All health care workers (including all health authority staff, accredited physicians and residents, volunteers, students, contractors, and vendors) who come into contact with patients at health care facilities including long-term care facilities. This includes independent health care practitioners and their staff in community settings.
• Visitors to health care facilities and other patient care locations
• Household contacts (including children) of people at high risk whether or not those high-risk people have been immunized
• Those who provide care and/or service in potential outbreak settings housing high risk persons (e.g., crew on ships)
• Household contacts of healthy children 0 to 59 months of age
• Those providing regular child care to children 0 to 59 months of age, whether in or out of the home

• First responders: Police, fire fighters, ambulance
• Corrections workers

• Anyone else who wishes to reduce their risk of the flu.

• Adults 65 years of age and older
• Residents of extended or intermediate care facilities
• Individuals 2 years of age and older with:
  • Anatomic or functional asplenia*
  • Sickle cell disease
  • Immunosuppression related to disease [e.g. malignant neoplasm (including leukemia and lymphoma), HIV, multiple myeloma] or therapy*  (e.g. high dose, systemic steroids, or severe rheumatoid arthritis requiring immunosuppressive therapy)
  • Congenital immunodeficiency states (e.g. complement, properdin, or factor D deficiency)
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Chronic liver disease including cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis B, hepatitis C
  • Chronic heart or lung disease (except asthma, unless management involves ongoing high dose oral corticosteroid treatment)
  • Receipt of hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT)
  • Solid organ or islet cell transplant (candidate or recipient)
  • Diabetes
  • Alcoholism
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Chronic CSF leak
  • Cochlear implant (candidate or recipient)
  • Homelessness*and/or illicit drug use*
  • Chronic neurological conditions that may impair clearance of oral secretions

*For more information on eligibility criteria for pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine please see BCCDC Immunization Manual, Part 4 - Biological Products

Booster doses

• A once-only revaccination should be offered 5 years after the initial immunization to those who have:
  • Anatomic or functional asplenia
  • Sickle cell disease
  • Immunosuppression related to disease (e.g., HIV, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s, multiple myeloma) or therapy (e.g., high dose, systemic steroids)
  • Congenital immunodeficiency states (as above)
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Chronic liver disease including cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis B, and hepatitis C
  • Solid organ or islet cell transplant (candidate or recipient)
     
• HSCT recipients: see Part 2 – Immunization of Special Populations, Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). 

*For more information on eligibility criteria for Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine please see BCCDC Immunization Manual, Part 4 – Biological Products

For more information visit: ImmunizeBC and Immunize Canada