Some experts want all children to get a flu shot this year

Several experts recommended that all children receive flu shots this year to help protect the older population, professor and member of the English Health Council Maarten Postma said in De Telegraaf.

"Hospital cannot afford a flu epidemic when there are also coronavirus outbreaks," Ted van Essen from the Dutch Influenza Foundation said.

The flu does not often impact children considerably, but it can make senior citizens very ill. "When children are vaccinated against the flu then, fewer adults are infected, and expensive hospital stays are avoided," Postma said.

This season, immunization against the flu is low because people have been less exposed to the virus due to coronavirus measures.

The Dutch Health Council has not yet issued advice to give all children flu shots, yet it recommended the jab for pregnant women to increase the newborn's immunity.

In Great Britain, there has already been a unique child flu vaccine for the past seven years. British children will also be vaccinated against the flu en masse. Postma hoped that the Netherlands follows the British example.