Guidance

Amendment to national flu immunisation programme 2025 to 2026 letter

Updated 28 July 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-flu-immunisation-programme-plan-2025-to-2026/amendment-to-national-flu-immunisation-programme-2025-to-2026-letter

28 July 2025

The national flu immunisation programme 2025 to 2026 letter (“annual flu letter”), originally published on 13 February 2025 is hereby amended to reflect the following changes:

Community pharmacy delivery of 2-3-year-old flu vaccinations

To help support improvements in access and uptake, community pharmacies will be able to offer 2-3-year-olds flu vaccinations during the 2025 to 2026 flu season. Community pharmacy service delivery will begin from 1 October 2025, supplementing the offer in General Practice who will start vaccinating from the 1 September 2025, or as soon as vaccine is available.

The requirements of the service will be set out in the Directions and service specification.

For community pharmacy contractors, a separate patient group direction (PGD) to cover both the live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) and the cell-cultured inactivated influenza vaccine (IIVc) administration will be published alongside the community pharmacy service specification.

The recommended vaccines for 2-3-year-olds will be as follows:

First line: 

  • LAIV: live attenuated influenza vaccine 

Second line: 

  • IIVc: cell-cultured inactivated influenza vaccine is recommended where LAIV is contraindicated or otherwise unsuitable (for example, parents object to LAIV on the grounds of its porcine gelatine content)
    Note in the  annual flu letter dated 13 February 2025 this vaccine was abbreviated as TIVc

For vaccination of 2-3-year-olds in community pharmacies, LAIV will be supplied centrally by NHS England through the Federated Data Platform (rather than by UKHSA through ImmForm) and is not reimbursable. Ordering controls will be in place to balance vaccine supply and demand. Information on these controls and other ordering advice for community pharmacies will be outlined in the community pharmacy service specification,  and set out further in NHS England operational guidance which will be cascaded through NHS England internal channels.

IIVc will not be supplied centrally to community pharmacies. It should be ordered from the manufacturer/wholesaler directly and will be reimbursed in line with the contractual arrangements outlined in the community pharmacy service specification, and as set out further in NHS England operational guidance, which will be cascaded through NHS England internal channels.

The recommended vaccines, supply and ordering for the general practice and school aged elements of the children’s flu vaccination programme remain unchanged.

Resources to support the programme

The annual flu collection on the GOV.UK website provides resources to support the 2025 to 2026 seasonal flu programme, including information and training resources for vaccinators.

These include:

Yours sincerely,

Dr Thomas Waite, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England

Dr Mary Ramsay, Director of Public Health Programmes, UK Health Security Agency

Caroline Temmink, Director of Vaccination, NHS England

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