Flu Vaccination Service 2025-2026
NHS England circulated a letter in February 2025 setting out guidance for the 2025 to 2026 season. It includes the next steps for regions and providers to take, including which flu vaccines to order. The letter confirms that there are no changes to the eligible cohorts. Click here to read the letter
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
From October 2025, exact start date to be confirmed by NHS England in due course:
- those aged 65 years and over
- those aged 18 years to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book, Influenza chapter 19 )
- 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 workers in a social care setting without an employer led occupational health scheme including those working for a registered residential care or nursing home, registered domiciliary care providers, voluntary managed hospice providers and those that are employed by those who receive direct payments (personal budgets) or Personal Health budgets, such as Personal Assistants
Please see latest letter received from NHSE on 26th June 2025 explaining arrangements for flu and covid-19 vaccinations for 2025/26,
Eligibility for COVID-19 Vaccines
The announced and authorised cohorts eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in AW 2025/26 are:
• Residents in a care home for older adults
•All adults aged 75 years and over
•Persons aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in tables 3 and 4 of the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book (here).
Programme dates
As stated in the National Flu Immunisation Programme letter, flu vaccinations:
•Pregnant women and all eligible children will start from 1st September 2025. For school aged cohorts, vaccination in schools should be completed by 12 December 2025 with further catch-up opportunities as appropriate.
•All other adult flu cohorts will start from 1 October 2025 and will run until the 31 March 2026. Although, we anticipate that the majority of vaccinations should be completed by the end of November 2025 to provide the best possible protection going into winter.
•The COVID-19 programme will run from 1 October 2025 to 31 Jan 2025. However, the majority of COVID-19 vaccinations should be completed by 19 December 2025
National Booking Service (NBS)
To support preparedness and delivery:
•NBS will be opened for participating sites to post flu and COVID-19 vaccination appointments from 18 August 2025.
•It will be open for bookings from the public from 1 September 2025 for vaccination from 1 October 2025.
•The last available appointment date on NBS will be 31 January 2026 for COVID-19; NBS will remain open for flu only appointments until 31 March 2026.
