Some children were unable to have their free flu vaccinations this week due to an IT error.

One parent contacted the Messenger to say their child, who goes to Miers Court Primary School in Rainham, was not allowed to have her free nasal spray vaccination as the school did not receive her consent form.

But the parent said they had submitted the form online, as they were asked.

The child was sent home with a letter advising her parents to book a catch-up appointment but when they tried to book one, they were told the date and location of the clinic hadn’t yet been finalised.

The free vaccinations are being provided by the NHS and the child-friendly nasal spray means kids can avoid having an injection.

Kent Community Health immunisation locality clinical manager, Karen Kessack, said: “We would like to apologise that some children were unable to have their flu vaccinations at school. This was down to some technical problems that have since been fixed.

“We work on the basis of the number of signed consent forms we receive, so unless a parent contacts us, we would not know that a form had been submitted and not processed. If there are any more parents who wish to get in touch with us, they can, we would welcome this.

“At this time we are aware of a handful of cases and this situation is being quickly rectified. We’ve arranged for our nurses to return to schools, where possible, and vaccinate any children who missed out, or make other arrangements to make sure children have their flu vaccination, such as appointments at catch-up clinics.

“The programme runs until the end of December and we have now confirmed all venues. We understand that a very small number of parents were asked to call back to find out if more clinics had been added. We can confirm that all clinics have now been booked in.”

Did your child miss out on having their flu vaccination this week? Email jedwards@thekmgroup.co.uk or call 01634 227803.