‘A wee scoosh and my kids were protected against flu’

Busy mum of two Becca Afrin never takes chances with her children’s health.

So when the 33-year-old from Mount Vernon, Glasgow, heard about the child flu vaccine, she didn’t hesitate to ensure both her boys – Joel, eight, and Malachi, six – were protected.

Becca, who’s head of admin for the mental health and wellbeing charity Healing for the Heart, says, “My husband Norman and I had flu a few years ago and it floored us for about two weeks straight.

“Our bodies ached, our heads ached and we felt nauseous. It was really awful – we could barely lift our heads up off the pillow. I wouldn’t want to put that on anyone, especially not my children; it was not a good experience at all.”

“I know what it’s like to have the flu and, especially with the boys being so young, and with so much illness that goes around, I would rather avoid them having to deal with that. If there’s a vaccine they can have to stop them coming down with flu, it makes sense to have it.”

“Now the boys are older and at school, we get a letter every year saying that the vaccinations will be taking place and to complete a form and send it back if you’re happy for your child to be vaccinated.”

“I’d already explained it wasn’t a jag, it wasn’t anything that was going to hurt them, and they were happy with that. The vaccination itself was so simple – it was just a wee scoosh up each of their nostrils and away they went.”

“We were literally there for minutes while the lady explained what she was going to do. She showed the boys the wee nasal spray and said she was going to put one squirt up each nostril. The vaccination itself took barely seconds.”

“The only thing both boys had was a bit of a runny nose for a day or two afterwards.”

“No, and I knew that if there