Flu vaccination eligible cohorts from 1 September 2025:

• pregnant women
• all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2025
• primary school aged children (from Reception to Year 6)
• secondary school aged children (from Year 7 to Year 11)
• all children in clinical risk groups aged from 6 months to less than 18 years

Flu vaccination eligible cohorts from 1 October 2025:

• those aged 65 years and over
• those aged 18 years to under 65 years in clinical risk groups
• those in long-stay residential care homes
• carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• frontline health and social care workers

For the first time since December 2020, when Covid vaccines were first introduced, people under 75 and those with most clinical risk factors, such as diabetes or heart disease, will no longer be eligible for an NHS Covid booster vaccination. In addition, frontline health and social care workers are no longer eligible for a booster dose. This is in accordance with the latest JCVI guidance, which can be found in Chapter 14a of the Green Book.

New Eligibility Criteria for Covid Seasonal Vaccine:

• Residents in a care home for older adults (all residents regardless of age)
• All adults aged 75 years and over (including those due to turn 75 years of age on or before 31 January 2026)
• Persons aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in the specific ‘Immunosuppression’ subsection of tables 3 and 4 only of the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book.

Our Primary Care Network team will be supporting the practice later in the season with the new Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine.

RSV is a major cause of respiratory illness, particularly dangerous for infants and the elderly. The virus can lead to bronchiolitis and pneumonia, requiring hospitalisation and intensive care in severe cases. The new vaccination programme is a proactive measure to mitigate these risks and enhance public health.

This is a UK-wide programme. The rollout will begin in September 2024 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and in August 2024 for Scotland.

We will be communicating clinics later in the season for those who are eligible.

FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THIS NEW VACCINE, PLEASE VISIT - National RSV vaccination programme announced - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)