Blue Mountains residents have been urged to get a flu shot with the state's free vaccination program extended until July 17.
Just 36.3 per cent of Blue Mountains residents have currently been vaccinated against influenza, a figure the region's public health director, Dr Victor Carey, wants to see much higher.
"It's free for everyone until July 17 and it's a very simple thing to do. You can go to your GP or your pharmacy... If you haven't had a COVID booster you can get that at the same time as well. How good is that?" he said.
Dr Carey said with international borders closed in recent years due to COVID-19, people might have forgotten about the threat posed by influenza.
"We haven't had flu for the last few years, it hasn't been in the country. It relies on travel with people who have been overseas so people have sort of forgotten about flu, I guess," he said.
But the health boss said influenza is already posing a serious risk.
"It is circulating in the community. We are seeing increased hospitalisations and ICU admissions. People need to understand that flu can be a serious illness and can even result in deaths."
While flu jab rates for the over-65s are much higher in the Blue Mountains at 65.5 per cent, Dr Carey said he would still "like to see them a lot higher than that".
Just 17.1 per cent of children aged between five and 15 in the Blue Mountains have received a flu vaccine, while the figure sits at 23.3 per cent for people aged between 15 and 50.
Dr Carey cautioned that younger people shouldn't treat influenza as less of a threat to their health.
"It can also randomly, really seriously affect people who seem fit and healthy and have no medical condition which you would be concerned about... That's why I would recommend everyone gets the flu vaccine," he said.
For information about how to get a free flu shot visit the NSW Health website.
