Immunisations

Caring for yourself when you have heart failure is mainly about staying as well and as healthy as possible. One way to stay well is to minimise the risk of getting respiratory infections like influenza (flu) or pneumonia, as respiratory problems can make heart failure worse.Safe vaccines that can provide immunity against flu and

Safe vaccines that can provide immunity against flu and pneumonia are available. You should discuss having these vaccines with your nurse or doctor who will be able to advise you in more detail about them.

When travelling, your travel agent will advise you on the immunisations or medications, for example malaria tablets, that may be required depending on your destination.

If you take anticoagulant medicines, your doctor or nurse may advise a different vaccination programme, which may need to be started earlier than the usual vaccination schedule.

COVID-19

Safe and effective vaccines are available that provide strong protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19.  Billions of people have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Getting vaccinated is strongly recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). They consider it one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself against COVID-19 and help end the pandemic. The WHO advises countries to work towards vaccinating at least 70% of their populations, prioritizing the vaccination of 100% of the most vulnerable groups, including people who are over 60 years of age and those with underlying health conditions.

Further information can be found here.