![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2_Outside-Emergency-DepartmentJPG.jpg\")
The Emergency Department (ED) at the Ulster Hospital (Image: South Eastern Trust )<\/p>\nThere are only three days left for eligible people to get their flu vaccine in time for ChristmasThe Emergency Department (ED) at the Ulster Hospital (Image: South Eastern Trust )<\/p>\n
As we enter Christmas week, there are currently average waits of 5 hours to be seen in some emergency departments across Northern Ireland<\/a> this Monday, December 22.<\/a><\/p>\n An early outbreak of flu has driven delays in both emergency departments and the ambulance service in recent weeks. Over the space of two weeks, flu cases tripled<\/a> in Northern Ireland, with a jump in hospitalisation rates.<\/p>\n According to the most recent official figures from the Public Health Agency<\/a> published on December 17, influenza activity has decreased across the majority of surveillance indicators but is still circulating in the community.<\/p>\n READ MORE: New virus stronger than Covid and flu spreading as experts warn even “disinfectant won’t kill it”<\/a>READ MORE: Where you can get your flu jab in Northern Ireland before Christmas as cases spike<\/a><\/p>\n Total positive cases dropped slightly from 1,228 the week before to 1,142. There have also been 330 flu-related hospital admissions, down from 348 the week before.<\/p>\n Hospital emergency departments treat and care for people with a serious injury or life-threatening condition. When you go for treatment, staff will assess your medical condition.<\/p>\n Patients with a serious injury or life-threatening condition are treated first, and waiting times can change quickly.<\/p>\n Average A&E waiting times in Northern Ireland, December 22 To see the most up-to-date average waiting times at emergency departments, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n The PHA is reminding people that there are only three days left for eligible people to get their flu vaccine before Christmas<\/a>.<\/p>\n A total of 511,987 influenza vaccinations have been administered since the beginning of the 2025\/26 winter vaccination programme to 14 December 2025.<\/p>\n “Call into your local participating pharmacy or check out available HSC Trust clinics. Don’t let your protection fade,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n You can help stop the spread of flu by:<\/p>\n \u2022 Washing hands regularly<\/p>\n \u2022 Catching coughs and sneezes in a tissue<\/p>\n \u2022 If eligible get your free Flu, COVID-19 or RSV vaccine<\/p>\n For further information on flu vaccines see www.nidirect.gov.uk\/wintervaccines<\/a>.<\/p>\n For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage<\/strong> here<\/a> and sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a> here.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are only three days left for eligible people to get their flu vaccine in time for ChristmasThe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[105,1144,85199,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-649401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-northern-ireland","10":"tag-public-health-agency","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115766275832985312","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_ED-WAITS-MON-AM.jpg\")
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