The NSW government is making needle-free flu vaccines available to kids in the state after the worst flu season on record.
The free nasal spray vaccines, for kids aged two to four, will be available for free, in a push for vaccine uptake among young children, as faith in vaccine efficacy wanes among parents.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: NSW rolls out needle-free flu vaccines
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Two thirds of kids — and about a quarter of adults — have a strong fear of needles, according to Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) NSW/ACT Chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman.
But the new nasal spray vaccine known as FluMist is “gentle, painless, and needle-free” and administered with “one spray into each nostril”, the NSW government said on Tuesday.
FluMist is also free in Queensland and in South Australia for kids between the ages of two and five, and in Western Australia for kids aged between two and 12.
“The nasal spray influenza vaccine has been safely used since 2003, with millions of doses given to children across the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States of America and Canada,” according to SA Health.
Possible side effects are usually mild, according to Queensland Health, “and most commonly include a runny or blocked nose, headache or general tiredness”.
More serious potential side effects, such as persistent high fever, difficulty breathing, and allergic reactions are rare, according to the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.
Thousands of kids in NSW emergency departments with flu
The nasal vaccine rollout in NSW comes after more than 24,500 cases of influenza in children under five were recorded during the extended flu season in NSW last year.
Children under five with influenza-like illnesses presented to emergency departments 4600 times in 2025.
There was also another 960 NSW hospital admissions for children under five with flu-like illnesses.
That is a 40 per cent spike in both presentations and admissions, compared to those recorded in 2024.
The spray vaccine will be available from GPs across NSW, Aboriginal Medical Services and community pharmacies, under the NSW Nasal Spray Influenza Vaccination Program.
“I know how unsettling it can be for some parents taking a child to receive a vaccine, so being able to offer a needle-free alternative is a real win for those parents,” Park said.
“We hope this option will help increase vaccine uptake in this age group, who we know are at higher risk of becoming more seriously unwell from influenza.”
The vaccine spray rollout coincides with new findings from the National Vaccination Insights project — a nationally representative 2025 survey of 2012 parents of children under five years of age.
It found that 72 per cent of parents would be more likely to vaccinate their child if they had a needle-free option.
Why flu fix ‘is being deprioritised’
The 2025 National Vaccination Insights study also showed a waning faith in vaccines.
The results signal “a decrease in parents’ confidence in vaccines, which has influenced parental decision-making over the past year,” said Dr Maryke Steffens., research fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS).
“Although influenza remains a leading cause of hospitalisation in children under five, vaccination is increasingly being deprioritised.
“This is about perceptions of low disease risk, low relevance and poor vaccine effectiveness, as well as access issues such as costs and ease of getting appointments.”
The rate of vaccine-averse perceptions among surveyed parents roughly doubled across the board.
There was last year a 12 per cent increase, to 22 per cent, in surveyed parents who said they do not believe the influenza vaccine is effective.
The rate of parents who believe they would not feel guilty if an unvaccinated child became ill with influenza rose from 15.5 per cent to 30.6 per cent.
Just over a quarter of surveyed parents said they did not plan on vaccinating their children this flu season.
Cost-of-living concerns and access barriers do still hamper vaccine uptake, the survey found, especially among parents experiencing financial stress, living outside major cities, or speaking a language other than English at home.
“Even when vaccines are funded, families may still face appointment costs and indirect costs such as travel, time off work, language barriers and difficulty securing appointments,” said Dr Jess Kaufman, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) principal research fellow.
Injectable vaccines also available for free
It was not just young children who contracted the flu in record numbers in NSW last year.
The state also recorded its highest number of influenza cases across all age groups in 2025, with 186,768 notifications, Park said.
That is a 15.8 per cent jump (25,548 more) than in 2024, and a 79 per cent jump (82,439 more) than in 2023.
Bupa chief medical officer Dr Nic Woods said that in 2025, “Australia recorded the highest number of influenza deaths since the Spanish flu pandemic more than a century ago”.
He warned Australians about a flu strain known as “Super K“ which has recently “dominated the northern hemisphere winter”.
“We cannot afford to be complacent or ignore the warning signs. Super K is spreading earlier and faster than flu strains seen in previous seasons.”
A flu vaccine injection remains available to Australians within all age groups over six months.
It is free for children under five, adults over the age of 65, pregnant women, Aboriginal people, and people with serious health conditions, under the National Immunisation Program in 2026.
“The influenza vaccine is the best chance of protection against serious illness and I urge everyone in NSW to protect themselves and their families this winter,” Park said.
“If you do get sick this winter, and it’s not an emergency, I encourage everyone to use our out-of-hospital care options, like Healthdirect and our urgent care centres, so we can keep our emergency departments for the people who need them most.”
