#33 COVID-19 & Flu Vaccines Explained

In this episode of the HSE Talking Health and Wellbeing Podcast, host Fergal Fox talks to Dr. Sarah Geoghegan, Clinical Lead of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC), and Gillian Buggy, Regional Flu Lead for South East Community Healthcare. They discuss the COVID-19 and Flu vaccinations, explaining the rationale and the importance of these programmes. They highlight the significance of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in saving people from serious illness and death during the pandemic, and touch on the recent research published on this. We learn from Dr. Geoghegan about how vaccines work as she expands on the effectiveness of vaccination and also the side-effects. Gillian talks about how important it is for certain groups to get vaccinated ahead of winter, particularly healthcare workers, and what to expect when getting vaccinated. They also answer questions from healthcare workers, such as ‘Why would I need a covid vaccine… sure covid is gone!’ For more information about COVID-19 and flu vaccines, visit www.hse.ie. If you are a healthcare worker and wish to access the 15 minute online training about the benefits of vaccines. “The Flu and COVID-19 Vaccines for Healthcare Workers– protect yourself, protect others” is a short online course designed to educate and inform healthcare workers about the flu and COVID-19 vaccines, and to address some of the things you should know about the vaccines. Go to hseland.ie and search for it. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]   Produced by GKMedia.ie