Let’s prevent you getting pneumonia
The pneumococcal vaccine protects against serious and potentially fatal pneumococcal infections. It’s also known as the pneumonia vaccine.
Pneumococcal infections are caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae and can lead to pneumonia, septicaemia (a kind of blood poisoning) and meningitis.
Pneumonia is swelling (inflammation) of the tissue in one or both lungs and is usually caused by a bacterial infection.
Who can have the FREE NHS vaccine?
There are 4 groups of people who are eligible to get vaccinated under the NHS:
– People aged 65 and over
– Anyone from the ages of 2 to 64 with a health condition that increases their risk of pneumococcal infection (ask your pharmacist for more details)
– Anyone at occupational risk, such as welders
Babies are routinely vaccinated with a type of pneumococcal vaccine known as the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) as part of their childhood vaccination programme.
