Calls to offer free flu jab to anyone over the age of 50

FREE flu vaccinations could soon be offered to everyone from the age of 50.

Currently, only over-65s are eligible for the free jab, but government advisers today said younger people should be vaccinated as well.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's flu subgroup said vaccinating everyone over the age of 60 could be "worthwhile", and also warned that patients as young as 50 are being hospitalised with flu.

It comes after experts warned nearly 100,000 Londoners could be killed by a flu pandemic. The London Regional Resilience Flu Pandemic Response Plan has predicted a death toll of more than 94,000 from an outbreak hitting the capital.

Pulse newspaper revealed that minutes from the JCVI meeting said: "It was thought there is data to show a clear rise in hospitalisations in the over-50s and that vaccinating 60-64 year olds was worth considering.

Royal College of GPs spokesman on immunisation, Dr George Kassianos, said: "For the past six years I've been calling for the age to be brought down to 50 years."