Seasonal flu vaccination remains a critically important public health intervention and a key priority for 2023 to 2024 to reduce morbidity, mortality and hospitalisation associated with flu at a time when the NHS and social care will be managing winter pressures whilst continuing to recover from the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Recent vaccination programmes have exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) target for those aged 65 years and above for a third season running.
The programme provides direct protection to those at higher risk of flu associated morbidity and mortality, including older people, pregnant women, and those in clinical risk groups and is guided by advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an independent departmental expert committee. In addition, based on the JCVI 2012 recommendation, a vaccination programme for children using live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) provides individual protection to the children and reduces transmission to the wider population.
From 1 September 2023, the below groups will be eligible:
- those aged 65 years and over
- those aged 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book, chapter 19 (Influenza))
- pregnant women
- all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2023
- primary school aged children (from Reception to Year 6)
- 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
The immune response to the vaccination takes approximately two weeks to develop.
For the full details visit UKHSA’s website.