Australia started the yr grappling with an unseasonably excessive fee of influenza infections, pushed by a mutation of the H3N2 pressure of the influenza A virus that emerged in 2025.
Whereas no extra extreme than different strains, subclade Okay – which some dubbed “Tremendous-Okay” due to its infectiousness and subsequent fast unfold – noticed hundreds of summer season flu circumstances.
The excellent news is Australia now has an adjusted influenza vaccine that higher protects in opposition to Tremendous-Okay.
As winter begins, right here’s what you might want to find out about respiratory diseases in Australia and the vaccines accessible.
Who ought to get the flu vaccine and when is one of the best time?
The influenza vaccine, which has been accessible since April, incorporates three viral strains together with an A-strain intently associated to Tremendous-Okay.
Annual influenza vaccination is advisable for anybody six months and over. Anybody who acquired a flu vaccine in late 2025 or early 2026 are inspired to get one other dose, given the vaccine has been up to date to guard in opposition to at present circulating strains.
Infectious ailments epidemiologist Prof Meru Sheel mentioned: “The very best time to get vaccinated is when it’s accessible in April however now we’re in June we nonetheless actually encourage individuals to get vaccinated.”
What concerning the Covid vaccine?
Covid-19 and flu vaccines might be given on the identical time. Covid-19 vaccination is advisable for these 18 years and older, and for youngsters between six months and 17 years with medical circumstances which will improve their danger of extreme illness.
“Equally essential is for individuals to be careful for flu-like signs and to remain residence and social distance in the event that they expertise signs,” Sheel mentioned.
Is Australia in for a nasty flu and Covid season?
Respiratory infections don’t all the time surge in a predictable approach come winter, although within the colder months individuals typically spend extra time indoors, making it simpler for diseases to unfold. As of June, each influenza and Covid-19 infections stay at low ranges in Australia in contrast with the identical time in earlier years.
A spokesperson for the Australian Centre for Illness Management mentioned: “How every season will unfold is tough to foretell.
“Viruses can change over time, individuals’s immunity and vaccination ranges differ, and native circumstances – together with how individuals work together – have an effect on how diseases unfold.”
In the meantime, “Covid-19 doesn’t have a constant seasonal sample – numbers fluctuate all year long”, the spokesperson mentioned.
What about RSV and who’s eligible for a free vaccine?
As of 4 June, the nationwide notifiable ailments surveillance system has been notified of 33,559 influenza circumstances, 40,054 Covid-19 circumstances and 50,572 circumstances of RSV, brief for respiratory syncytial virus. RSV may cause a chest an infection known as bronchiolitis, and largely impacts younger youngsters.
“RSV traits are likely to differ in numerous areas of Australia,” the CDC spokesperson mentioned. General, charges are low in comparison with the identical time lately.
The RSV vaccine is out there at no cost to pregnant individuals, adults aged 75 years and over, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals aged 60 years and over.
The low numbers of respiratory viruses in winter to this point follows the worst influenza season in Australia on report in 2025, which noticed greater than 500,000 laboratory-confirmed infections. This compares with about 186,000 Covid infections in 2025.
Excessive charges of respiratory diseases in 2025 have been partially pushed by the emergence of Tremendous-Okay and falling vaccination charges.
Is a needle-free nasal spray flu vaccine accessible?
Information from between 1 March and 31 Could 2026 exhibits the cohort aged between 5 and 64 has seen a decline in vaccinations, down to three.9m from greater than 4m in the identical interval in 2025. Nevertheless, the identical interval has seen the very best variety of influenza vaccinations given to youngsters below 5 in contrast with earlier three years.
The deputy director of the World Well being Group’s collaborating centre for reference and analysis on influenza, Prof Ian Barr, mentioned this can be as a result of needle-free flu vaccine for youngsters being made accessible in 2026.
The nasal spray vaccine is free in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.
When will a mixed flu and Covid vaccine be accessible?
There are a number of pharmaceutical firms growing mixed influenza and Covid vaccines and, in April, the European Fee granted authorized approval for a mix vaccine developed by Moderna for individuals aged 50 and above.
In Australia, any new vaccine must be assessed and authorised for security and efficacy by the Therapeutic Items Administration, then thought of and evaluated by unbiased exterior consultants, earlier than being thought of by the Pharmaceutical Advantages Advisory Committee if it’ll be government-funded.
“All these further steps take time, so whether or not or not the mixed vaccine shall be accessible for subsequent yr stays to be seen, and it definitely won’t be accessible this yr,” Barr mentioned.
