Flu vaccinations

 

Excerpt of the letter

Dear colleagues,

Flu vaccination remains a critically important public health intervention to reduce morbidity and mortality in those most at risk including older people, pregnant women and those in clinical risk groups. It helps the health and social care system manage winter pressures by helping to reduce demand for GP consultations and likelihood of hospitalisation. Vaccinating health and care workers also plays an important role in helping to prevent transmission of flu, protecting themselves and those they care for.

This letter sets out guidance for the 2024 to 2025 season and 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 for the coming year, although providers should read the section on the timing of the programme carefully.
Eligibility

Eligibility for flu vaccination is based on the advice and recommendations of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). This includes a vaccination programme for children based on JCVI’s 2012 recommendation, using live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) which provides individual protection to the child and reduces transmission in the wider population.

The following groups are to be offered flu vaccination in line with the announced and authorised cohorts (see timings section):

From 1 September 2024:

  • pregnant women

  • all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2024

  • 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 2024, 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

All frontline health care workers, including both clinical and non-clinical staff who have contact with patients, should be offered flu vaccine from October (exact start date to be confirmed in due course) as a vital part of the organisations’ policy for the prevention of the transmission of flu. Social care workers directly working with people clinically vulnerable to flu should also have the flu vaccine provided by their employer. There are circumstances where frontline staff, employed by specific social care providers without access to employer led occupational health schemes (see cohort eligibility above), can access the vaccine through the NHS free of charge. For NHS Standard Contract holders, further information about the 2024 to 2025 Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) scheme will be available shortly.

Providers are expected to deliver a 100% offer to eligible groups. They should ensure they make firm plans to equal or improve uptake rates in 2024 to 2025, particularly in those cohorts where uptake has traditionally been lower (clinical risk groups, children aged 2 and 3 years, and pregnant women). Providers should also ensure they have robust plans in place for tackling health inequalities for all underserved groups.

 
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