This is due to an increase in behaviours like hand-washing, wearing face masks and widespread social distancing.

Professor Anthony Harnden, the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, warned earlier this summer flu has the potential to be an even bigger threat than Covid.

He said: “I will emphasise that, actually, flu could be potentially a bigger problem this winter than Covid.

“We’ve had a very, very low prevalence of flu for the last few years, particularly virtually nil during lockdown, and we do know that when flu has been circulating in very low numbers immunity drops in the population, and it comes back to bite us.