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Seasonal flu campaign 2025/26

  • Vaccs, imms and screening

With higher rates of flu than previous seasons vaccination is particularly important, recent updates to the page include administration by HCSWs.

The seasonal influenza programme runs until 31 March 2026. The following cohorts are covered, with the majority of adults eligible from October 2025.

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 1 October 2025:

  • 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 the start of October.

The main changes to the 2025 to 2026 flu vaccine programme are summarised below:

  • all the vaccines recommended for use in 2025 to 2026 flu vaccination season will be trivalent influenza vaccines, containing 2 influenza A strains and one influenza B strain
  • the recombinant influenza vaccine (IIVr) will be available for the 2025 to 2026 flu vaccination season (after not being available for the 2024 to 2025 flu vaccination programme), and
  • the adjuvanted inactivated influenza vaccine (aIIV), previously available for those aged 65 years and over, is now licensed from age 50 years and over.

Administration by healthcare support workers (HCSWs)

Following queries regarding the Green Book update in relation to consent for vaccinations, the UKHSA has produced this advice to clarify the circumstances in which HCSWs may administer flu jabs.

In summary, it is the responsibility of registered healthcare professionals (HCP) as prescribers to obtain consent for vaccination. If the patient is not receiving the vaccine for the first time, HCSWs may administer flu vaccinations which have previously been consented to by a registered HCP under a PSD if the following apply:

  • Consent has been previously obtained by a registered HCP e.g. by a nurse under a PGD or a prescriber under a PSD and the vaccine is of the same formulation that is unchanged except for the seasonally updated antigens and the patient confirms this is still valid
  • There are no relevant changes to the patient’s medical history or circumstances
  • The HCSW undertakes basic checks to confirm that it is safe to administer the vaccine e.g. the patient is not febrile and no other contraindications apply since the original assessment to ensure patient safety
  • They must seek support from a registered HCP if:
    • The patient has concerns
    • The patient wishes to discuss risks/ benefits further
    • The patient requires in depth assessment for contraindications e.g. immunosuppression or allergy, the most notable point is this:
      If the patient is receiving the vaccination for the first time, a registered HCP will need to undertake a clinical assessment and obtain and record consent appropriately. This can be done through a number of mechanisms including direct discussion or communication e.g. Accurx, email or letter. The patient should be provided with relevant information on the risks and benefits of vaccination for example through the NHS website.

Additional resources

GP practices in London are encouraged to contact the London Immunisations Team directly at England.londonimms@nhs.net with any queries.