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Quadrivalent flu vaccine protects against four strains of influenza virus as against three strains in the older trivalent vaccine. It has now become official policy to use quadrivalent flu vaccine in the UK.
Why the Change to Quadrivalent Flu Vaccine?
There are two important influenza A strains and two important influenza B strains. Trivalent vaccines provided cover against viruses from both A strains and one B strain. A quadrivalent vaccine which covered the second B strain became available several years ago but was not considered cost effective. However, over the past few years, the additional cost of quadrivalent vaccine has come down and other countries adopted it.
When, in the 2017-18 season, a flu epidemic arose from the B strain that was not included in the trivalent vaccine, a decision was taken in the UK to change to quadrivalent vaccine. Quadrivalent vaccine is now the internationally accepted vaccine of choice.
Doctorcall has been able to source quadrivalent vaccine at a cost-effective price and we do not believe it is any longer appropriate to offer trivalent vaccine.