The health secretary, Sajid Javid, has received his flu jab at a London community pharmacy.  

Mr Javid was given the jab at Keencare Pharmacy, which is part of the Green Light Pharmacy Group, today (12 October). During the visit, he also met with Andrew Lane, chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), and pharmacist Cynthia Langworthy.  

Mr Lane said: ‘We are delighted to have helped arrange for NPA member Green Light Pharmacy to vaccinate the health secretary against flu. 

‘It also gave us the opportunity to have an initial conversation with him about how pharmacies can help meet the backlog challenge facing the NHS.’ 

Ms Langworthy added: ‘It was great to host the health secretary Sajid Javid here at our pharmacy and vaccinate him against flu. 

‘We spoke about the wide range of services pharmacies provide. He recognised our efforts during the pandemic and was very appreciative of the key role of pharmacy in the NHS and we discussed how pharmacy is often the ‘front door’ of the NHS for many of our patients.’ 

This year, the Government plans to vaccinate more of the population against the flu than ever before; with over 60% of the population now eligible for a free vaccine.  

After getting vaccinated, Mr Javid said: ‘I’ve done my bit by getting my flu vaccine, and it’s vital that all those who are eligible come forward for both their flu and Covid-19 booster vaccines, to give themselves and their loved ones the best possible protection in the months ahead.’  

As of yesterday (11 October), the community pharmacy sector had already delivered over 1.7 million flu vaccines since the programme began on 1 September.    

Last year, community pharmacies alone vaccinated 2,617,628 during the 2020/21 programme, over one million more than the sector achieved in the entire flu season in the previous year (2019/20).