NHS kicks off COVID and flu jabs for Winter 24-25
Everyone who is eligible can now book their appointment. There are hundreds of thousands of slots still available, and you can book in via the NHS website, the NHS App, or by calling 119 for free.
Your flu vaccine can also be booked by searching online for a local pharmacy and there are walk in sites available to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Who is eligible for a COVID vaccine?
The groups to be offered a COVID-19 vaccine in autumn/winter 2024/25 are:
- residents in a care home for older adults
- all adults aged 65 years and over
- anyone aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group.
Who is eligible for a flu vaccine?
- 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
- Everyone aged 65 years and over
- Everyone aged 18 years to under 65 years in clinical risk groups.
- 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.
- Those who receive direct payments (personal budgets) or Personal Health budgets, such as Personal Assistants.
How much of a risk is flu?
Latest UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data shows that over the past 2 winters (October to May, 2022- 2023 and 2023-2024) at least 18,000 deaths were associated with flu, despite last winter being a relatively mild flu season.
While pandemic restrictions and social behaviours saw flu levels fall dramatically for a few years, these latest figures are a reminder that flu is a deadly virus, particularly for older people and other groups at greatest risk.
The figures also show that flu vaccine uptake rates dropped last winter across all eligibility groups in England compared with the previous year.
While vaccination uptake in older people last year remained high, only:
- 41% of people with long-term health condition;
- 44% of 2-and 3-year-olds;
- and just 1 in 3 pregnant women received the flu vaccine.
This winter, for the first time pregnant women and older people aged 75 -79 are eligible for a RSV vaccination (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), a common virus that can make babies and older adults seriously ill.
In mothers, the vaccine provides strong protection for newborns in their first few months, when they are most at risk of severe illness from RSV.
Image: Centre for Disease Control
