Almost 90% of pharmacies experienced abuse from ineligible Covid jab patients

Nine in 10 pharmacies (88%) faced verbal or physical intimidation from patients who were ineligible for the Covid vaccine, a new survey by the National Pharmacy Association has found.

Some pharmacists even reported being pushed or spat at by this minority of frustrated patients.

The survey also revealed that more than half of an average pharmacy’s Covid vaccine bookings were made by patients who were not eligible but were able to book using a ‘fundamentally flawed national NHS system’ at the end of last year.

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The survey was completed by 450 pharmacies in England between 17th October 2025 and 24th October 2025.

Full detail is yet to be understood, but the NPA estimates that pharmacies could be owed £2 million a day in wasted costs, and it has asked the NHS to provide compensation.

Chief executive of the NPA, Henry Gregg, said: ‘Our data shows this has come at a significant personal and financial cost to community pharmacies across the country.

‘It is disgusting to learn of pharmacists being spat at by disgruntled individuals and any physical intimidation or abuse is utterly unacceptable.

‘Although some of the cost to pharmacies can be quantified, such as staff time wasted or the cost of vaccination supply, other consequences such as the loss of reputation and the impact of abuse cannot be.’

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Pharmacies also reported a lack of communication from NHS England regarding the issues and the rationale for changing longstanding criteria for the vaccinations.

This included excluding patients between the ages of 65-75 as well as some patients with certain comorbidities.

In October 2025, ).

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It raised multiple concerns with NHS England, including:

• Poor public messaging around the revised eligibility criteria;
• Failures in the booking system that allow ineligible people to book;
• The financial and time burden of managing ineligible appointments;
• The impact on pharmacy teams and public trust;
• Knock-on effects on flu vaccination uptake.

NHS England took several steps to address the problem such as updating the NBS wording, issuing targeted messages to booked patients, producing NHS-branded materials for pharmacies, and reminding GPs of the updated eligibility criteria.