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Vaccine update: issue 332, October 2022, flu special edition

Published 19 October 2022

Applies to England

Flu vaccination programme in 2022 to 2023

As a result of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, which reduced social contacts, there have been very low levels of influenza activity in the last 2 years. This means that there may be a rebound in influenza levels this coming winter because people will be mixing more and they may also be more susceptible to influenza as they have not been exposed to the virus. The potential for co-circulation of influenza, COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses could add substantially to pressures in the NHS in 2022 to 2023.

Influenza vaccination plays an important part of the government’s wider winter planning to reduce illness from influenza, and therefore the potential impact on the NHS.

Full details of those eligible this year are given below. An expanded flu vaccination programme will continue this year. The priority is for those most at risk from influenza (those in clinical risk groups, pregnant women and older people) to be vaccinated first and then the temporary cohort of those aged 50 to 64 years not in clinical risk groups will be eligible for vaccination from mid-October.

Routine influenza vaccination of children continues. Alongside children in clinical risk groups, all those aged 2 and 3 years old (on 31 August) continue to be eligible for vaccination through their GP surgery.

This pre-schooler cohort is particularly important this season as these children will have had very little exposure to circulating influenza in their lifetimes due to COVID-19 restrictions. Primary school-aged children will be eligible again and the priority will be to vaccinate them, with an offer later in the season as part of the expanded programme to some secondary school-aged children.

We want to build on the momentum of the last 2 years where we had the highest vaccine uptake rates ever achieved, exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) target of 75% for those aged 65 years and over for 2 years in a row and achieving higher uptake in most other cohorts compared to previous years. This is a fantastic achievement given the challenges of COVID-19 and an expanded vaccination programme which meant that higher numbers of people were vaccinated than ever before.

This autumn we want to continue to encourage influenza vaccine uptake in those who are eligible and to achieve at least the uptake levels of 2021 to 2022 for each cohort, and ideally exceed them. Improved uptake in those in clinical risk groups, children aged 2 and 3 years old, and pregnant women should be achieved to provide direct protection to those at increased risk from influenza.

We also need to support those who have historically had lower uptake to take advantage of the protection that the flu vaccine provides, such as those living in the most deprived areas, some ethnic minorities and other underserved communities. A key part of this is tailored communications and engagement with local communities through local employers, faith and advocacy groups.

In this issue of Vaccine Update we provide links to our flu publications including leaflets, letter templates, consent forms and posters, with leaflets translated into 29 languages and provided in braille, British Sign Language (BSL), large print, simple text for those with low literacy, and easy read for those with a learning disability.

As there may be winter outbreaks of COVID-19, protecting those at high risk of flu, who are also those most vulnerable to hospitalisation as a result of COVID-19, is vitally important. Many of the groups eligible for the flu vaccine are also eligible for a COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccine. Co-administration of these 2 vaccines, where people are eligible for both, is permissible where operationally advantageous.

Communication key messages and questions and answers are already available in a combined flu and COVID-19 vaccination toolkit on CommsLink and materials will continue to be added.

A winter vaccinations marketing campaign will launch late October running through to mid-December, encouraging the uptake of influenza and COVID-19 booster vaccines. The campaign supports both vaccination programmes.

We would like to extend our thanks to all for their hard work delivering the programme.

Eligibility

The following are eligible for an NHS vaccine in 2022 to 2023:

• all children aged 2 or 3 years old (on 31 August 2022)
• primary school-aged children (from reception to year 6)
• some secondary school-aged children
• those aged 6 months to under 65 years of age in clinical risk groups such as those with:
  • chronic (long-term) respiratory disease, such as asthma (requires continuous or repeated use of inhaled or systemic steroids or with previous exacerbations requiring hospital admission), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or bronchitis
  • chronic heart disease, such as heart failure
  • chronic kidney disease at stage 3, 4 or 5
  • chronic liver disease
  • chronic neurological disease, such as Parkinson’s disease or motor neurone disease
  • learning disability
  • diabetes
  • splenic dysfunction or asplenia
  • a weakened immune system due to disease (such as HIV or AIDS) or treatment (such as cancer treatment)
  • morbidly obese (defined as BMI of 40 and above)
• pregnant women
• those aged 65 years and over
• 50 to 64 year olds not in clinical risk groups (from mid-October 2022)
• those in long-stay residential care homes
• carers
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• frontline staff employed by the following types of social care providers without employer led occupational health schemes:
  • registered domiciliary care provider
  • Direct Payment (personal budgets) and/or Personal Health Budgets, such as personal assistants
  • a registered residential care or nursing home ^{[footnote 1]}
  • a voluntary managed hospice provider ^{[footnote 1]}
• those living in:
  • long-stay residential care homes or nursing homes ^{[footnote 1]}
  • other long-stay health or social care facilities ^{[footnote 1]}
  • a housebound patient (defined in the Enhanced Service (ES) specification)

For further information:

• tripartite annual flu letter published on 22 April 2022 and the amendment to the letter published on 21 July 2022
• GP flu contract
• Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Service

Green Book influenza chapter 19 updated

The influenza chapter in ‘Immunisation against infectious disease’ (the Green Book), which gives detailed descriptions about clinical risk groups advised to receive influenza vaccination and guidance for healthcare workers (HCWs) on administering the influenza vaccine, was updated in September.

Which flu vaccine to offer to adults

Every year the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) reviews the latest evidence on influenza vaccines and recommends the type of vaccine to be offered to individuals. NHS England (NHSE) then confirms which vaccines will be reimbursed on the NHS in the NHS reimbursement letter.

A poster for practices summarising this information is available to download.

For more information see the children’s flu vaccines section.

Guidance on immunisation training for 2022 to 2023 influenza season

All healthcare professionals involved in administering the influenza vaccine must have the necessary knowledge, skills, training and mechanisms in place to supply and safely administer influenza vaccines.

The updated Flu immunisation training recommendations were published in August 2022. These include recommended training requirements by workforce group for influenza vaccination (Appendix A), suggested content that should be covered in theoretical and/or work-based training (Appendix B) and a competency assessment tool for new influenza vaccinators (Appendix C).

If training is not available locally, all those who advise on or administer influenza vaccines are also recommended to complete the flu specific e-learning programme, which is updated annually and is available free of charge with open access for all on the e-Learning for Healthcare (eLfH) website. This e-learning programme consists of a core knowledge module, separate modules on the inactivated and live influenza vaccines and accompanying knowledge assessments for each module.

The national flu immunisation programme for 2022 to 2023 slide set and a flu vaccination programme 2022 to 2023: information for healthcare practitioners document containing information about the current influenza programme, the vaccines available and commonly raised issues for influenza vaccination has also been published.

Patient Group Directions

Patient Group Directions (PGDs) for the 2022 to 2023 influenza season are available on GOV.UK. These include a PGD for live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV), the LAIV PGD, and a separate inactivated influenza vaccine PGD. Practitioners must not use these PGDs until they have been authorised in Section 2. This is a legal requirement in accordance with the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. Practitioners should follow local policy and procedures to access authorised PGD documents.

There is a separate PGD for the community pharmacy seasonal influenza vaccine service, which is authorised nationally by NHSE and published on the associated NHS webpage for the community pharmacy seasonal influenza vaccine service.

National protocol for inactivated influenza vaccine

For the 2022 to 2023 influenza season, there is a national protocol for the administration of inactivated influenza vaccine to individuals eligible for vaccination as part of the nationally commissioned influenza vaccination programme.

The national protocol allows for a mixed workforce model for vaccination similar to that used for COVID-19 vaccination. In accordance with the national protocol for inactivated influenza vaccine, administration of inactivated influenza vaccine may be by appropriately trained persons, following assessment of the individual by a specified registered professional as detailed in the national protocol.

Health care workers

All frontline health care and social care workers should be offered vaccination by their employer. This is an employer’s responsibility to help protect their staff and patients or clients and ensure the overall safe running of services. Employers should commission or implement a service which makes access to the vaccine easy for all frontline staff, encourages staff to get vaccinated, and monitors the delivery of their programme. The complementary NHS influenza vaccination offer for primary care staff has not been extended for the 2022 to 2023 influenza season. Influenza vaccinations for primary care staff, like other frontline healthcare staff, revert to being an employer’s occupational health responsibility.

As for last season, the definition of a frontline healthcare worker for the influenza programme will be aligned with that of the COVID-19 vaccination programme to include both clinical and nonclinical staff who have contact with patients. One of the quality indicators in the 2022 to 2023 Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) is a goal of vaccinating between 70 to 90% of staff.

Update to the general practice ES specification for the seasonal flu programme

The 2022 to 2023 general practice enhanced service specification for the seasonal flu programmes has been updated (26 September 2022) to include provision as part of general practice’s occupational health responsibilities to offer eligible frontline patient-facing staff a flu vaccination under the Clinical Negligence Scheme for general practice (CNSGP).

Vaccines delivered as part of general practice’s occupational health responsibilities will not be eligible for reimbursement of the flu vaccine cost nor an item of service payment, with the exception of where the eligible frontline patient-facing staff member is eligible under the NHS flu programme due to age or clinical risk and is a registered patient at their employing practice. Further guidance is available.

Social care workers

All frontline social care workers who are directly involved in the care of clinically vulnerable clients, and who are at increased risk from exposure to influenza, should receive a vaccination this season. This should be provided by their employer, in order to meet their responsibility to protect their staff and patients and ensure the overall safe running of services. Employers should commission a service which makes access easy to the vaccine for all frontline staff, encourage staff to get vaccinated, and monitor the delivery of their programmes.

Frontline social care staff are eligible under the NHS flu scheme where employer-led occupational health services are not in place and the social care or hospice worker is employed:

• by a registered residential or domiciliary care provider
• through Direct Payment or Personal Health Budgets
• by a registered residential care or nursing home
• by a voluntary managed hospice provider

Vaccination will be available through community pharmacy and general practice in accordance with the relevant service specifications. Where the social care or hospice worker is employed by a registered residential care or nursing home or voluntary managed hospice provider they can be vaccinated by any general practice regardless of whether they are registered with the general practice.

This season, as COVID-19 remains in circulation, frontline social care workers should also take up the COVID-19 autumn booster as well as the flu vaccine (see information on health and social care marketing campaign below).

Additional information on influenza immunisation is available online for both social care staff, personal assistants and social care and hospice providers.

Health and social care worker marketing campaign

It is important that health and social care workers get vaccinated with both the COVID-19 and flu vaccines to protect themselves and their patients; the viruses can be life-threatening and getting both flu and COVID-19 at the same time increases the risk of serious illness.

A communications toolkit has been designed to support a proactive approach to staff engagement and contains useful resources and information to help maximise uptake.

Both communications toolkits are now available via the COVID-19 guidance and resources area on CommsLink. Please be aware that the toolkit will be updated regularly throughout the season so when signposting, please link to CommsLink where possible instead of sharing the attachment.

Orders for pre-print staff facing materials have now closed, and digital assets including A4 posters, Q&A leaflets, stickers and social media resources are available to download from the campaign resource centre.

Public-facing marketing campaign

This year the national marketing campaign to drive uptake of this winter’s essential vaccinations – influenza and COVID-19 boosters – will launch in late October, running through to mid-December. The campaign supports both vaccination programmes and aims to both protect the nation from these 2 dangerous viruses this winter and help to reduce the burden on the NHS over what is always a challenging time of the year.

The campaign narrative sets out that both influenza and COVID-19 can be life-threatening and will both be circulating at the same time this winter. Therefore, this autumn it’s more important than ever to take up the influenza vaccine, COVID-19 booster, or both if offered to protect ourselves and others ahead of winter.

The campaign will launch with broadcast, digital and multicultural marketing advertising supported by search, PR and partnership activity. It is aimed at the groups most at risk from influenza and COVID-19 and those who could spread them to people more vulnerable.

Printed materials will be available to order from the campaign resource centre.

Social media assets will be available from 17 October.

Public-facing communication resources

A flu and COVID-19 vaccination toolkit is available on CommsLink; it provides key communication messages and useful questions and answers.

Flu publications available to order or download

Leaflets remain an effective way of communicating the need and the benefits of having a vaccine and inform the consent process. It is important that people receive a leaflet in a format that meets their needs. Accessible versions are an important resource to improve uptake in underserved communities. We also want everyone to have a positive vaccination experience and having accessible information is part of that experience.

Our leaflets and resources are all available to download and many can also be ordered. We have a wide range of leaflets in translated versions, simple text, easy read, large print, braille, British Sign Language (BSL) video versions, and easy read and video for those who have a learning disability.

There are also HTML versions, which are text only. This helps search engines on the web that look for content, people who use screen readers and assisted technology. HTML versions can also be signposted to in e-consent forms which need to include leaflets when asking for consent. If using e-consent it is important to recognise that not all parents and carers have access to digital resources, so it is important to provide the leaflets as paper copies as well.

Schools and the school-aged immunisation service can identify which accessible versions would be helpful for their cohorts. For example, if there are students who are deaf or use BSL, they can make the videos available on screens or share the link with parents and children. It is important to recognise that many BSL users rely on BSL resources as written literacy in this group can be lower.

Stay up to date with all of the publications to support the annual flu programme.

Main leaflets

Protecting your child against flu – information for parents and carers

Available in 29 languages, this leaflet is for parents and carers. It explains why children are eligible for a flu vaccination, as well as describing the disease and the nasal flu vaccine.

Copies can be downloaded or ordered using product code 2022FCEN for the English version. Translated, English large print, Braille, BSL video and audio versions are also available.

The ‘Flu vaccination: who should have it and why’ leaflet

Available in 29 languages, this leaflet explains to patients how they can help protect themselves and their children against flu this winter. It includes information about eligible children, adults and pregnant women.

This leaflet can be downloaded and ordered and translated versions will be available soon. A braille version of this leaflet is available to order and a BSL video is available to download.

Guidance and resources for schools

Flu vaccination programme 2022 to 2023: briefing for schools

This leaflet gives details about the flu vaccination programme for primary school-aged children including how the programme is delivered and the role schools play. It can be downloaded and ordered using product code 2022FBS.

Flu vaccine consent forms

This year there are 2 flu vaccine consents forms available for school-aged immunisation service providers to download. One is for the nasal spray flu vaccine and the other for the flu vaccine by injection.

Letter template inviting school-aged children for vaccination

A letter template for school-age immunisation provider teams to use can be downloaded.

5 reasons to vaccinate your child against flu – primary school version

This poster aimed at parents explains the benefits of vaccinating children against flu. It is available as translated versions. Copies can be downloaded or ordered.

5 reasons to vaccinate your child against flu – secondary school version

This poster aimed at parents explains the benefits of vaccinating children against flu. It is available as translated versions. Copies can be downloaded or ordered.

Simple text versions

Aimed at individuals with a low reading age, simple text versions ‘All about flu and how to stop getting it’ are available to download and order.

All about flu and vaccination – simple text for adults

This leaflet can be downloaded and ordered using product code FLU2021STA.

All about flu and vaccination – simple text for children

This leaflet can be downloaded and ordered using product code FLU2021STC.

Resources for those with a learning disability

Several resources are available for those with a learning disability.

Flu vaccination – easy-read poster and leaflet

Our easy-read guides for individuals in all settings with a learning disability are available for the 2022 to 2023 flu season. These resources are aimed at people who have a learning disability or who have autism or who care for someone with a learning disability.

They provide advice on:

• the flu virus and why you need a vaccine every year
• signs of flu
• flu jabs and where to get one

Easy-read guides can be downloaded and ordered.

Flu vaccination films for people with a learning disability and autistic people and their family or carers

Two short films about the importance of the flu vaccination for people with a learning disability and autistic people with certain health conditions. The film covers why it is important, who is eligible for a free vaccine, where you can get the vaccine and reasonable adjustments.

Reasonable adjustments

The importance and range of reasonable adjustments that can be made so people with a learning disability or other disabilities have good access to healthcare are explained in this film. Resources and tools to support this legal requirement are available.

Flu vaccination for pre-school children resources

Immunising pre-school children against flu

Available to download, this leaflet is about the annual flu vaccination programme for pre-school children. It informs those working in the early years sector about the programme and how they can support it. It is aimed at nursery and pre-school managers, staff and childminders delivering the Early years foundation stage framework, and those who provide informal childcare, such as nannies.

Flu stickers for children aged 2 to 11 years

We have new design flu stickers with 2 designs. Each sheet contains 72 stickers, so if you order 2 sheets you get 144 stickers. You can order them using product code SCHFLSTK from Health Publications.

Letter templates for general practice

Flu vaccination: letter template for children aged 2 and 3 years

GP practices can use this template to invite parents and guardians to get their child vaccinated at the local surgery.

Flu vaccination: letter template for at-risk patients and carers

Template for GPs to invite patients at risk of flu due to a medical condition, pregnancy or age, and those who receive a carer’s allowance or are the main carer for an older or disabled person, to have their annual flu vaccine.

Resources for healthcare professionals

Flu vaccines: 2022 to 2023 flu season

Poster showing the different types of flu vaccines available for the 2022 to 2023 flu season and the clinical risk groups that they apply to.

Flu vaccines for children and young people

A quick reference guide to the childhood flu vaccines for winter 2022 to 2023.

Disease surveillance and vaccine uptake data

Influenza and COVID-19 disease surveillance reporting is combined into one report to create the ‘Weekly national influenza and COVID-19 surveillance report’, which is published weekly on Thursdays at 2pm.

The report summarises information from the surveillance systems that are used to monitor influenza, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), and other seasonal respiratory viruses in England. As per previous seasons from week 41 (13 October 2022) onwards ‘top lines’ on vaccine uptake by cohorts will be included in the weekly surveillance report.

For the 2022 to 2023 season, monthly vaccine uptake will be published as official statistics at 2pm on the following dates:

School age manual survey collection	Survey month	Data from 1 September 2022 up to date	Publication date at 2pm
Flu	September	30 September 2021	27 October 2022
Flu	October	31 October 2021	24 November 2022
Flu	November	30 November 2021	22 December 2022
Flu	December	31 December 2021	26 January 2023
Flu	January	31 January 2022	23 February 2023

All GP practices monthly surveys	Survey month	Data from 1 September 2022 up to date	Publication date at 2pm
Flu	September	30 September 2021	27 October 2022
Flu	October	31 October 2021	24 November 2022
Flu	November	30 November 2021	22 December 2022
Flu	December	31 December 2021	26 January 2023
Flu	January	31 January 2022	23 February 2023
Flu	February	28 February 2022	23 March 2023

Frontline HCWs survey	Survey month	Data from 1 September 2022 up to date	Publication date at 2pm
Flu and COVID-19	September	30 September 2021	27 October 2022
Flu and COVID-19	October	31 October 2021	24 November 2022
Flu and COVID-19	November	30 November 2021	22 December 2022
Flu and COVID-19	December	31 December 2021	26 January 2023
Flu and COVID-19	January	31 January 2022	23 February 2023
Flu and COVID-19	February	28 February 2022	23 March 2023

Further communication on data collection tools, collection timelines, and user guides will be shared with stakeholders separately. For any queries related to the data collections or official statistics, please contact the relevant mailbox as follows:

• seasonal flu vaccine uptake in children of school age, winter 2022 to 2023:
  ChildFluvac@ukhsa.gov.uk
• seasonal flu vaccine uptake in GP patients, winter 2022 to 2023:
  Influenza@ukhsa.gov.uk
• seasonal flu vaccine uptake in healthcare workers, winter 2022 to 2023:
  HCWvac@ukhsa.gov.uk

Links to the monthly data for the 2022 to 2023 season will be published under ‘Seasonal flu vaccine uptake’.

Note that as for previous seasons there will be specific webpages for each collection, but the webpage addresses are not available in advance of the pages being published. However, the collections will be named as follows:

• Official Statistics, Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in children of school age: winter 2022 to 2023
• Official Statistics, Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in GP patients: winter 2022 to 2023
• Official Statistics, Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in healthcare workers: winter 2022 to 2023

Vaccines for the 2022 to 2023 children’s flu programme supplied by UKHSA

As in previous years, all flu vaccines for the 2022 to 2023 children’s flu programme are available to order by NHS programme providers in England via the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)’s ImmForm website.

Please note that UKHSA does not supply any flu vaccines for patients aged 18 years and over.

For arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, please refer to guidance from your respective health departments.

Vaccines and availability

The latest and most accurate information on availability of centrally supplied vaccines for the children’s flu programme is available on the ImmForm news page at all times. It is strongly advised that all parties involved in the provision of influenza vaccines to children ensure they remain up to date with this.

The table below shows the 3 vaccines available, and the groups these vaccines should be ordered for:

Vaccine	Manufacturer	Available to order for
Fluenz® Tetra (LAIV)	AstraZeneca	Children aged 2 and 3 years, those in eligible school age cohorts, and children in clinical risk groups (or children who are household contacts of immunocompromised persons) aged 2 to less than 18 years [footnote 2]
Cell Based Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (Surface Antigen, Inactivated) (QIVc)	Seqirus	Eligible children [footnote 3] for whom LAIV is contraindicated or otherwise unsuitable
Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (split virion, inactivated) (QIVe)	Sanofi Pasteur	Children in clinical risk groups aged 6 months to less than 2 years

LAIV ordering information for general practice

As in previous years, ordering controls are in place for general practices, to enable UKHSA to balance incoming supply with demand. These controls work by allocating an amount of LAIV based on the number of registered eligible patients and are tailored to each practice.

Please note the following if you are ordering for general practice:

• each GP practice will initially be allocated sufficient LAIV to vaccinate up to 45% of their eligible patients (all 2 and 3 year olds, plus children in clinical risk groups from age 4 to less than 18 years)
• amendments to these allocations will be made in response to vaccine availability and demand
• requests for extra vaccine will be considered on a case-by-case basis throughout the ordering period. Requests should be sent to the helpdesk (helpdesk@immform.org.uk) and in good time before your order cut-off. Out of schedule deliveries will be by exception only

Managing LAIV and QIVc allocations within multi-branch practices

Please note that GP practices or groups that operate over multiple sites but are part of the same organisation will have a joint allocation for LAIV and quadrivalent influenza vaccine, cell based (QIVc), even where each site has a unique ImmForm account. This means that it is possible for one site to potentially order all of the available vaccine for the group, unless there is local agreement on how the allocated volume is shared. UKHSA recommends that this agreement is in place before ordering opens.

The allocation information above should allow practices to estimate the amount of LAIV they will initially have access to, and how it should be split between all sites (remember that LAIV allocations are per season, and not per week). For QIVc, the total amount available per week will simply be 8 doses per site, multiplied by the number of sites in the organisation.

LAIV ordering information for school-age providers

School teams are able to place 2 orders and receive 2 deliveries of LAIV per week, to assist in the management of vaccine volumes required across limited storage space at delivery points.

This will operate on a 48-hour delivery schedule requiring the order to be placed before the 11:55am cut-off 2 working days before the required delivery day. The table below illustrates the respective delivery days versus ordering day.

Order day (before 11:55am cut-off)	Delivery day
Monday	Wednesday
Tuesday	Thursday
Wednesday	Friday
Thursday	Monday
Friday	Tuesday

Customers must ensure that the point of delivery will be open and manned on the delivery day when placing orders.

Please note that this does not affect the ordering and delivery schedule of any other vaccines (including inactivated flu vaccines) ordered from ImmForm and is applicable to Fluenz® Tetra (LAIV) only.

A default weekly ordering cap of 400 packs (4,000 doses) per week is in place for school provider accounts. This can be split as required across 2 orders or placed as one order if preferred.

Where this cap is insufficient and a provider needs a larger weekly volume of vaccine to deliver the programme (for example where a provider covers a large area using a single account), a higher weekly cap should be requested via the UKHSA Flu Vaccine Operations team by emailing childfluvaccine@ukhsa.gov.uk. Please ensure that this request is made at least 48 hours before an order larger than 400 packs needs to be placed, to allow time for your account to be set up correctly.

For one-off larger orders during the ordering period, requests should be made via helpdesk@immform.org.uk

Inactivated flu vaccine ordering

Two inactivated flu vaccines are also available for children for the 2022 to 2023 season:

• Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (split virion, inactivated) (QIVe) which should only be ordered for children in clinical risk groups aged from 6 months to less than 2 years old, with an initial order cap of 2 doses per week (supplied in a single dose pack)
• Cell Based Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (Surface Antigen, Inactivated) (QIVc), which is available to order for:
  • children aged 2 to less than 18 years old in clinical risk groups for whom LAIV is clinically contraindicated or otherwise unsuitable
  • healthy children from 2 years of age to those in school year 9, for whom LAIV is unsuitable (for example, due to objection to LAIV on the grounds of its porcine gelatine content). This vaccine is available in a single dose pack to:
    • GPs, with an initial order cap of 8 doses per week
    • school-age providers, with an order cap of 400 doses per week

For one-off larger orders of inactivated vaccines, requests should be made via helpdesk@immform.org.uk in good time before your order cut-off.

Order and delivery days for inactivated vaccines for school providers will be made as per the routine ordering and delivery days set for other childhood vaccines, and not per the 48-hour delivery schedule available for LAIV.

All influenza vaccines for the 2022 to 2023 season

Information on all influenza vaccines that have been marketed in the UK for the 2022 to 2023 season are available.

1. Of the eligible cohorts listed above, those marked with an asterisk may be vaccinated by any general practice, regardless of whether they are registered with that general practice. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Unless clinically contraindicated or otherwise unsuitable. ↩

3. Children in clinical risk groups (and children who are household contacts of immunocompromised persons) aged 2 to less than 18 years, healthy children aged 2 and 3 years, and those in eligible school age cohorts. ↩