Patient Cohorts for Seasonal Flu 2024/25

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

From 1 September 2024:

• pregnant women
• all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2024
• 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 3 October 2024:

• 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

All frontline health care workers, including both clinical and non-clinical staff who have contact with patients, should be offered flu vaccine from 3 October to support the prevention of the transmission of flu. Social care workers directly working with people 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 cohort eligibility above), can access the vaccine through the NHS free of charge.

See Workforce,Staffing and Occupational Health Considerations

The ask is for providers to deliver a 100% offer to eligible groups and should make plans to equal or improve uptake rates in 2024 to 2025, particularly in those cohorts where uptake has traditionally been lower (clinical risk groups, children aged 2 and 3 years, and pregnant women). Providers are also asked to have plans in place for tackling health inequalities for all underserved groups.

Call and Recall

Practices must ensure they offer influenza vaccinations to all eligible Patients and:

9.8.1. Practices are required to ensure, including to support the high uptake of influenza vaccinations and minimise wastage, where the Patient is a registered patient of the Practice, that they:

1. 1. undertake a proactive call/recall if the Patient is considered at-risk;   
   2. undertake a proactive call if the Patient is not considered at risk;
   3. reasonably co-operate with any national call/recall service;
   4. and maintain clear records detailing how they have contacted Patients (including both called & recalled);

Practices must request details of the Patient’s ethnicity status if they have not previously provided this information to the Practice and, where provided by the Patient or their carer, the Practice must record the ethnicity information in the Patient record.

Ethnicity

In complying with paragraph 9.8.1, Practices must use at least one written communication (to include letters/SMS text messages) offering influenza vaccination to Patients. Practices must request details of the Patient’s ethnicity status if they have not previously provided this information to the Practice and, where provided by the Patient or their carer, the Practice must record the ethnicity information in the Patient record.

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Updated on Friday 10 January 2025

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