Eligible groups unchanged for national flu vaccinations

There are no changes to the eligible cohorts for the 2026/27 national flu vaccination programme, which will begin from September.

A letter issued jointly by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), announced that from 1 September 2026 the flu vaccination will be offered to:

Pregnant women;
Children aged two or three on 31 August 2026;
Primary and secondary school students from reception to year 11;
Children aged six months to under 18 in clinical risk groups.

People aged 17 and over attending special educational needs schools who are in a clinical risk group may also be vaccinated alongside their peers from this date.

Then from 1 October, all remaining eligible groups will be offered the vaccine:

Adults aged 65 and over;
Those aged 18 to under 65 in clinical risk groups;
Residents in long-stay 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 people;
Eligible frontline social care workers without employer-led occupational health schemes.
Frontline healthcare workers with patient contact – part of organisational infection prevention policies.

Healthcare professionals were told in the letter to prioritise flu vaccination of two- and three-year-olds as soon as vaccine supply allows, in an effort to reduce transmission and protect those most vulnerable.

This follows the launch of a new childhood immunisation campaign to reverse the decline in childhood vaccination rates.

The letter also said flu vaccination providers should have ‘robust plans’ in place to identify and address health inequalities for all underserved groups as part of government goal to reduce uptake variation.

Providers are expected to make a 100% offer to eligible groups and deliver more vaccinations than in the 2025/26 season than in the 2024/25 season, the letter added.

The letter also said that the start date of 1 October is based on evidence that the flu vaccine’s effectiveness wanes over time, meaning that it is better to vaccinate adults closer to the time when the flu virus is likely to circulate.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has made two changes to adult vaccine recommendations for 2026/27:

In those aged 65 and over, cell-cultured vaccine should now be considered equivalent to adjuvanted, high-dose and recombinant vaccines;
In adults aged 50 to 59 in clinical risk groups, high-dose vaccine may now be used off-label.

For children aged two to under 18, live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) remains the first-line option.

Where LAIV is contraindicated or parents object on grounds of its porcine gelatine content, cell-cultured inactivated vaccine is recommended instead.

For children aged six months to under two in clinical risk groups, cell-cultured vaccine is the preferred option, with egg-cultured vaccine as an alternative where cell-cultured is unavailable.

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In 2025, misinformation about patient eligibility for the Covid jab caused ‘absolute chaos’ during winter vaccinations, according to pharmacy owner and Community Pharmacy England (CPE) committee member Fin McCaul.

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