Three UK supermarket chains will start offering shoppers flu jabs in stores nationwide .
The vaccinations will be offered for £10 at Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco stores that include an in-house pharmacy, while vulnerable patients, including the elderly, will be eligible for jabs free of charge.
Shoppers will be given the injections by either a pharmacist or nurse .
Although both Asda and Boots have offered flu jabs to consumers in the past, the new scheme (available throughout October and November) involving three of the ‘big four’ UK supermarkets will make them more widely available.
The new supermarket service is the first in a series of government-backed reforms designed to make it easier for people to receive medical help without having to visit a GP or hospital .
Over the next two years hundreds of small NHS drop-in centres and doctors’ surgeries are to be built in or alongside supermarkets to provide more choice, while people will also be encouraged to register with a GP close to their office and with another at home.
Public health specialist Dr Stephen Gardiner said, “Getting more of those in high-risk groups to have flu vaccinations should also help ease pressure on GPs and hospitals this winter.”
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