The following groups are eligible for the flu vaccination in line with the announced timelines and authorised cohorts (see timings section):
Patient cohorts
From 1 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 October 2025: exact start date to be confirmed by NHS England in due course:
- 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
All frontline health care workers, including both clinical and non-clinical staff who have contact with patients, should be offered flu vaccine from the start of October and is 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.
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.
Uptake rates for 2025 to 2026
The national guidance asks is for providers to deliver a 100% offer to eligible groups with plans to equal or improve uptake rates in 2025 to 2026, particularly in those cohorts where uptake has been lower (health and social care workers, clinical risk groups, children aged 2 and 3 years old, and pregnant women). Providers are requested to identify and address health inequalities for underserved groups and to reduce unwarranted variation and improving uptake.