Patient cohorts

The following groups are eligible for the flu vaccination in line with the announced timelines and authorised cohorts (see timings section):

Patient cohorts

From 01 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 01 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

Frontline health workers

All frontline health care workers, including both clinical and non-clinical staff who have contact with patients, should be offered flu vaccine from 01 October and are considered a vital part of the organisation’s policy for the prevention of the transmission of flu. Employers are asked to make the vaccine accessible for all frontline staff, encourage staff to get vaccinated, and monitor the delivery of their programmes.

Data collection

UKHSA is responsible for monitoring vaccine coverage and for publishing vaccine uptake for frontline healthcare workers (HCWs), school aged children and eligible GP registered patients. These national Official Statistics collections are managed through the ImmForm website, reported to the World Health Organization and used in public notices. Providers should ensure they complete these data returns through ImmForm during the appropriate time windows throughout the season.

Further information on this submission can be found here.

Social care workers

Social care workers directly working with people who are 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 NHSE’s cohort eligibility), can access the vaccine through the NHS free of charge.