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Vaccine update: issue 346, June 2024

Published 18 July 2024

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaccine-update-issue-346-june-2024/vaccine-update-issue-346-june-2024

Measles and pertussis are circulating

Levels of pertussis have continued to rise this year and we are continuing to see cases of measles. These diseases had been controlled for many years by maintaining high uptakes of childhood immunisations and so many parents and health professionals have been surprised to see these diseases returning. The fact that these diseases have been quite rare in recent years can mean that the risk they pose is not always fully appreciated. But that can quickly change when children become seriously ill or, in the case of pertussis recently, sadly die.

Most families have high levels of confidence in our national programmes and do have their children vaccinated. Trust in our national programmes, as shown by our annual national attitudinal surveys, is still high. But coverage in MMR and preschool boosters and in some of our school age and older adult programmes remain lower than we need them to be. Not all infectious diseases are vaccine preventable, but for those that are, vaccination is the best protection.

Making sure children don’t miss out on protection

There are some tried and tested ways that can be used to improve uptake. For example, by providing families and individuals with invitations to appointments that are convenient for them, including evenings and weekends where possible, or through providing drop-in sessions. Other suggestions can be found in the NICE Guidance on improving uptake.

We are also coming up to the school holidays and this can be a good time to send reminders to encourage parents to use this time as an opportunity to make and attend appointments for children who have missed out.

We can also make every contact count by checking if children, young people, and older adults are up to date with their routine vaccinations. We can do this by inviting patients with incomplete vaccination histories in for appointments, and by vaccinating these patients opportunistically if they are attending for another reason.

Appointments missed? Can they be rescheduled?

There are many reasons why families and individuals may have missed routine vaccination appointments or have not been able to respond to invitations. Busy lives can make taking time off from work and school to attend appointments challenging for some people. That is why we recommend offering weekend and evening appointments and supplementing text and letter reminders with calls to those who have repeatedly not responded, if possible.

Discussing immunisations with people who have not responded to the offer of vaccination need not be difficult. It’s worth remembering that less than 2% of people report being completely against having vaccines and for others who have not accepted the reasons can often be resolved by having a conversation with a confident and knowledgeable health care professional. Healthcare professionals – particularly Practice Nurses, Health Visitors and GPs – are consistently reported to be the most trusted source of information on vaccines and for very good reason. There are a range of resources to help support you to have these vaccination conversations. These include accessible versions of the leaflets – such as translated, large print, braille, British Sign Language, audio or Easy Read – and it can be valuable to include these with their invitation. Remember to check which language or accessible version of the leaflet would be best.

Have you heard about the herd?

Whilst vaccines are great at protecting the individual that has them, if uptake is high enough, also provide protection for the wider community particularly those who are too young or too unwell to be vaccinated themselves. Children and vulnerable adults who are immunocompromised have a higher risk of contracting these diseases and they rely on the protection that higher levels of population coverage provide. Lower vaccine coverage in meningococcal A, C, W and Y (MenACWY), measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), pre-school and one-year boosters can lead to outbreaks of these diseases which puts those who are not, or cannot, be vaccinated at risk.

Making sure that we protect everyone and keeping uptake and coverage high, not only protects us all but is important to reduce the amount of disease circulating and eventually eradicate it. We have a national immunisation programme which is trusted and reaching most people and it is achieving this because of the incredible efforts of our local teams and immunisers, but we cannot afford to be complacent. Vaccination is the best population protection for many infectious diseases and by keeping people healthy and free from these infections we can also help to protect our wider health services at a time we know that these are challenged by increased demand.

We know how tirelessly our GP practices, School Aged Immunisation Services, and other immunisation settings, including pharmacies, have been working to improve and maintain uptake and we would like to thank you all because every single vaccination you give counts.

Travelling abroad this summer

Dr Mary Ramsay, Director Public Health Programmes (including Immunisation), has recommended

Families and young people should be encouraged to make routine vaccination a priority before summer travel or attending large events such as festivals either in the UK or abroad.

It is especially important to check you are up to date with your 2 doses of MMR before you travel. Not only would it be unpleasant to become ill whilst abroad, but you may risk bringing the infection back with you and exposing your family and friends. Anyone who has not had 2 doses of the MMR vaccine can contact their GP surgery to book an appointment. It is never too late to catch-up.

It’s important to check you’ve had both doses if you:

  • are about to start college or university
  • are going to travel abroad
  • are planning a pregnancy

Do you work with children and adults including pregnant women? Make sure you have had 2 doses of MMR

You should have the vaccine to protect yourself against 3 serious infections. By doing so you will also help to protect others who can’t have the vaccine. These include unborn babies, infants who are too young to have the vaccine and children or adults who can’t have the vaccine because they have weakened immune systems.

You should also have the vaccine if you work with young children or care for people as part of your work. Passing on measles to children who are too young to have the MMR vaccine or to someone who is already ill, can have very serious consequences for their health.

To find out more visit:

Think Measles! Resources for public settings

New posters promoting awareness of the signs and symptoms of measles are available to order, for use in all public settings. Available to order:

Change of vaccine for the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination in pregnancy programme from 1 July 2024

From 1 July 2024 ADACEL® (Tdap), a non-IPV-containing vaccine replaced Boostrix-IPV® (dTaP/IPV) for the pertussis vaccination in pregnancy programme. The ADACEL (Tdap) vaccine, which is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur contains tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (acellular) antigens and was licensed for UK use in April 2016.

Background

A national prenatal pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination programme was introduced in the UK in October 2012, following a recommendation from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in response to an increased incidence of pertussis cases and mortality in young infants. Pregnant women are offered vaccination in the second trimester of pregnancy in order to passively protect infants from whooping cough from birth until they can be actively protected by the routine infant vaccination programme. Boostrix-IPV vaccine (GSK) has been used in the programme and is a multivalent vaccine containing diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (acellular) and inactivated poliomyelitis antigens (DTaP/IPV).

Since its introduction, the prenatal pertussis vaccination programme has been shown to be very effective in protecting infants until they can have their primary vaccinations at two months of age. However, recent studies have shown that infants born to women vaccinated in pregnancy may have a lower antibody response (although above the protective threshold) for certain antigens within the primary childhood immunisation schedule, a phenomenon known as blunting. The JCVI agreed that the overall priority remains to ensure that a maternal pertussis campaign is in place as the programme continues to save lives. The JCVI concluded that there should be a preference for the use of a non-IPV containing pertussis vaccine in the maternal programme, to address the potential immunity gap caused by the blunting effect observed in the studies.

Improving vaccine uptake

Sadly, vaccine uptake levels in pregnant women, babies and young children have fallen in recent years across England. Maternal vaccine uptake fell from over 72.3% in December 2019 to around 59.5% in December 2023. Vaccination in pregnancy is key to protecting young babies and the fall in coverage is of concern given current high levels of pertussis activity in England. Sadly, 8 babies died from pertussis in the third quarter of 2024.

With the introduction of the ADACEL vaccine alongside with the updated and new resources to support the pertussis vaccination programme in pregnancy, the aim is also to increase the pertussis vaccine uptake and prevent serious pertussis disease in mothers and their infants.

Optimal vaccination time

It is important to ensure that all pregnant women are offered vaccination against pertussis in every pregnancy. Women should normally receive their whooping cough vaccine around the time of their mid-pregnancy scan (usually 20 weeks) but can receive it from 16 weeks.

To help provide optimal protection, the vaccine should be given before 32 weeks; but women who miss out can still have the vaccine later.

Vaccine supply

ADACEL® (Tdap) will be available to order online via the ImmForm website from June (exact date will be confirmed via an ImmForm news item), so that providers can ensure local stocks are held from 1 July. See the ImmForm help sheet for information on registering an ImmForm account. It is recommended that practices hold no more than 2 weeks’ worth of stock.

After the introduction of ADACEL® on 1 July, local stocks of Boostrix-IPV® can be used in the preschool programme. Providers who do not provide pre-school boosters should plan to use up local stocks of Boostrix-IPV® ahead of 1 July, and any remaining stocks of Boostrix-IPV® may continue to be offered to pregnant women if this will prevent vaccine wastage.

Reporting suspected adverse reactions

Health professionals and those vaccinated are asked to report suspected side effects to the MHRA Yellow Card scheme:

Pertussis resources

Following Pertussis resources to support the programme have been published:

New maternal pertussis vaccination resources available to order

Please order new pertussis materials to help promote the vaccination to pregnant women, they are available for free from Health Publications, if any are not in stock you can place a back order which will be dispatched as soon as the stock arrives.

Immunisation for young people guide

This is the main guide to immunisations for young people which features the teenage booster, MenACWY and HPV vaccinations delivered in schools. This guide should be given to all parents and carers of young people and used for discussions in schools in preparation for the SAIS teams to visit schools and can be helpful for all head teachers and members of the school to read to understand more about the vaccinations being given and why they are important.

This leaflet is currently available in English and is available to order via HealthPublications Product code: 24YPG1EN.

There are separate leaflets about each vaccine that can be ordered as translated and accessible versions.

A guide to the HPV vaccination

This provides essential information on the programme so that parents can give informed consent for their children to have their HPV vaccination.

Paper copies of the leaflet are available to order for free.

There are 33 different language versions available to order and download: Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Spanish, Estonian, Farsi, Fijian, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Kurdish Sorani, Latvian, Lithuanian, Nepali, Panjabi, Pashto, Polish, Romany, Romanian, Russian, Somali, Tagalog, Turkish, Twi, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, Urdu, Yiddish, and Yoruba.

A guide to the MenACWY vaccine

This leaflet explains the MenACWY vaccine that protects against 4 types of meningococcal disease (group A, group C, group W and group Y) which can cause severe illness including septicaemia.

Printed copies of this leaflet are available to order from Health Publications.

This leaflet is available translated into the following languages for order and download:  Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Estonian, Farsi, French, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Nepali, Panjabi, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Romany, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu and Yoruba.

A guide to the teenage booster (Td/IPV)

This is a guide to the teenage booster given in school Year 9 or at age 14 years. It explains the 3 in 1 teenage booster dose of the vaccine that prevents tetanus, diphtheria and polio, to young people, their parents and carers.

Paper copies of the leaflet are available to order for free.

This leaflet is also available in 33 languages, both as paper copies and digital downloads.

Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese, Estonian, Farsi, Gujarati, Hindi, Hungarian, Kurdish Sorani, Latvian, Lithuanian, Nepali, Panjabi, Pashto, Polish, Romanian, Romany, Russian, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, Yiddish and Yoruba.

MenACWY vaccine change: MenQuadfi

Following a competitive tender, MenQuadfi will replace Nimenrix as the vaccine supplied via ImmForm for the national adolescent MenACWY programme. Ordering for this will commence in August 2024. The vaccines are clinically equivalent, meaning there are no changes to the antigen content and no changes to consent forms are required. Providers should be aware that the vaccine does not come in a pre-filled syringe so they will need to order suitable syringes and needles through their local procurement process. School-aged immunisation providers using e-consent should be aware that they may need to update their electronic link to the patient information leaflet to ensure it links to the correct brand of vaccine.

Guidance for healthcare practitioners, including a slide set and guidance documents, about the MenACWY programme for adolescents is available.

MenACWY resources

This leaflet is available translated into the following languages for order and download: Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Estonian, Farsi, French, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Nepali, Panjabi, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Romany, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu and Yoruba.

The Inactivated Influenza Vaccine (IIV) PGD and National Protocol are now live

We are pleased to inform you that the Inactivated Influenza Vaccine (IIV) PGD and National Protocol are now live

We anticipate the Community Pharmacy IIV PGD will go live this week on the NHSE landing page.

As with all UKHSA PGD templates, the PGD templates require organisational authorisation in line with HMR2012 before the expiry date extension may be applied.

It is advised that the UKHSA PGD template is therefore organisationally authorised in accordance with local procedures before sharing with providers.

Children’s flu vaccination programme autumn 2024 to 2025 – resources available to order

A number of resources to support this autumn’s child flu vaccination programme are now available, either as a download or to order through the Health Publications website.

Which flu vaccine should children have – poster

A quick reference guide to the childhood flu vaccines for winter 2024 to 2025, download only, is now available.

Protecting your child against flu – leaflet 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 and/or ordered from Health Publications using product code: 2023FCEN for the English version.

Also available in the following languages:

Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional Cantonese), Estonian, Farsi, French, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Latvian, Lithuanian, Panjabi, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Romany, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu and Yiddish.

Please note the images on the translated versions, large print, audio and Braille differ to the English version.

Protect yourself against flu – leaflet for those in secondary school

This leaflet is aimed at young people and explains why they are eligible for a flu vaccination, as well as describing the disease and the nasal flu vaccine. Copies can be downloaded and/or ordered from Health Publications using product code: 22SECFLUEN for the English version.

This leaflet is also available to order for free or download in the following languages:

Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional Cantonese), Estonian, Farsi, French, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Panjabi, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Romany, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, Yiddish and Yoruba.

Flu Vaccination – briefing for primary schools

This guide 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: FLUPY24.

Adolescent vaccination programme – briefing for secondary schools

This guide explains the NHS adolescent vaccination programmes delivered to young people in secondary schools and the important role that schools play in the delivery of them. It includes information on the flu vaccination programme. The document can be downloaded and ordered using product code: FLUSY24 for free.

A flu vaccine consent form (covering both the nasal spray vaccine and flu vaccine by injection) is available for school-aged immunisation service providers to download.

Letter template inviting school aged children for vaccination

A letter template for school-age immunisation provider teams to use is available to download.

5 reasons to vaccinate your child against flu poster – pre-school and primary school version

This poster has been updated for 2024 to 2025. It is aimed at parents and explains the benefits of vaccinating children against flu. It is available as translated versions.

Copies can be downloaded or ordered as paper copies using the product code: FLU5RY24 .

This poster is available free to order in the following languages: Albanian Arabic , Bengali , Brazilian Portuguese , Bulgarian , Chinese (simplified) , Chinese (traditional) , Estonian , Farsi , Greek , Gujarati , Hindi , Latvian , Lithuanian , Panjabi , Polish , Romanian , Romany , Russian , Somali , Spanish , Turkish , Twi , Ukranian , Urdu and Yiddish.

Flu: 5 reasons to have the vaccine poster – secondary school version

This poster has been updated for 2024 to 2025. It is aimed at young people and explains the benefits of having the flu vaccine. It is available as translated versions.

Copies can be downloaded or ordered as paper copies using the product code: FLU5RS24.

It is available to download or order as a paper copy in the following languages: Albanian,Arabic,Bengali, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Estonian, Farsi, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Latvian,Lithuanian, Panjabi, Polish, Romanian, Romany, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, Twi, Ukranian, Urdu , and Yiddish.

Stickers

Stickers are available for healthcare practitioners to give to children who have received a flu vaccine either at their GP practice or school. There are 72 stickers per sheet. These can be ordered using product code SCHFLSTK .

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

Fundamentals of Immunisation at UCL

On 12 and 13 June, the Immunisation publications team attended the Fundamentals of Immunisation course held at UCL. With a lot of the team being new, it was a great opportunity to get to grips with some of the finer details of immunisation and for the old hands to refresh their knowledge. There was a vast array of topics discussed and an important area covered was the historical background behind immunisation and the basis of the UK’s immunisation policy. This gave a fascinating insight into how and why the decisions around vaccinations are made and what evidence is used in these decisions. It was particularly useful to understand who makes these decisions and implements the programmes. Another crucial topic was the scientific underpinning of vaccination as not all vaccines are the same and will interact with the immune system in different ways. The course also discussed the practical and legal considerations associated with vaccination such as where and how to administer the vaccine and importantly who can administer these as it can’t be just anyone! Vaccine safety was a popular and important topic looking at the trials and assurance process and what encouraged this writer was how extensive this is. Possibly the most interesting area was attitudes on vaccine and how these are promoted ensuring the right information is shared to the population through publications.

This was an excellent course useful for scientists, non-scientists, medical professionals and non-medical professionals alike offering a fascinating insight into the elements of vaccination but also bringing this together into an easy-to-digest 2-day course.

Rotavirus

Prior to implementation of the UK immunisation programme in July 2013, rotavirus was the most common cause of gastroenteritis among children and resulted in a significant number of young children being admitted to hospital each year. In the 5 years following the introduction of the infant rotavirus vaccination programme there was a 77 to 88% reduction in cases in infants under one year of age and a 69 to 83% reduction in laboratory-confirmed rotavirus infection in all age groups, with 11,386 to 11,633 cases averted annually. The rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix) is a live, oral vaccine which is administered from a squeezable tube and given as a two-dose schedule to children at 8 and 12 weeks of age.

Immunisers administering the oral rotavirus vaccine can find a refreshed version of the ‘information for healthcare professionals’ guidance and the training slide set available in the rotavirus immunisation programme for infants collection, along with links to the patient group direction (PGD), information about SCID newborn screening and leaflets and posters. The information for healthcare professionals guidance in particular is a practical document for healthcare practitioners administering or providing advice about the rotavirus vaccine. It includes the vaccination programme recommendations, contraindications, precautions and examples of scenarios that staff may experience when immunising, so anyone involved in delivering or supporting the rotavirus immunisation programme is encouraged to familiarise themselves with the content. Guidance for the rotavirus programme and for the other national vaccine programmes can be found on the immunisation collection webpage.

‘Protecting your baby against rotavirus’ leaflets and flyers can be downloaded or ordered from the Health Publications website.

Can you help? GPs wanted for interview study on Hepatitis C

We are looking for GPs in England to take part in an interview study on re-engagement of Hepatitis C (HCV) patients who have been lost to follow up. You do not need to currently be involved in HCV patient re-engagement. Please email dolores.mullen@ukhsa.gov.uk and avelie.stuart@ukhsa.gov.uk to express your interest in taking part.

A member of the study team will schedule an MS Teams interview at a time that suits you. It will take approximately one hour. If you are willing to participate, kindly e-mail and we will offer some times for July-September. We will use the information you give us to produce recommendations for overcoming barriers and enhancing facilitators in HCV patient re-engagement work.

Thank you, Dolores Mullen and Avelie Stuart

Vaccine supply

Routine vaccination programme

Attention all customers – bank holiday deliveries warning notice

Due to the August Bank Holiday, there will be no deliveries or order processing by Movianto UK on Monday 26th August 2024. See the table below for revised order and delivery dates. Additional guidance for off-shore and COVID vaccine customers will be published on ImmForm.

For customers with a standard delivery day of Monday, please be aware that after Monday 19 August, your next available delivery day will be Monday 2 September 2024.

You are reminded to be prepared for the break in deliveries and to order accordingly.

Please make sure you have enough room in your fridge for any additional vaccine you wish to stock over this holiday period, bearing in mind the recommendation that only two to four weeks of vaccine stock be held at any one time.

August Bank Holiday orders and deliveries

Order cut off dates for the August Bank Holiday (Monday 26 August 2024)

Delivery date Order cut off date Order cut off time
Monday 19 August 2024 Thursday 15 August 2024 11.55AM
Tuesday 20 August 2024 Friday 16 August 2024 11.55AM
Wednesday 21 August 2024 Monday 19 August 2024 11.55AM
Thursday 22 August 2024 Tuesday 20 August 2024 11.55AM
Friday 23 August 2024 Wednesday 21 August 2024 11.55AM
Monday 26 August 2024 Closed – No deliveries or order processing -
Tuesday 27 August 2024 Thursday 22 August 2024 11.55AM
Wednesday 28 August 2024 Friday 25 August 2024 11.55AM
Thursday 29 August 2024 Tuesday 27 August 2024 11.55AM
Friday 30 August 2024 Wednesday 28 August 2024 11.55AM
Friday 1 September 2024 Thursday 29 August 2024 11.55AM

Please be advised that Emergency or “Out of Schedule” deliveries cannot be arranged for failure to place orders in good time. Contact the ImmForm Team: helpdesk@immform.org.uk

Change of vaccine brand for meningococcal groups

A, C, W and Y (MenACWY) vaccination from September 2024

From September 2024, the vaccine used for meningococcal groups A, C, W and Y (MenACWY) vaccination will change from Nimenrix® to MenQuadfi®. Please continue to order and administer Nimenrix® until ImmForm and local stock holdings deplete. MenQuadfi® vaccine will be made available to order via ImmForm during August 2024.

MenQuadfi® vaccine ordered via ImmForm will be supplied as a single dose pack, containing one vial of vaccine and a patient information leaflet (PIL). The pack does not contain a needle or a syringe for administration. Guidance on the choice of needle size can be found in the Green Book Chapter 4. Needles and syringes should be obtained locally.

MenQuadfi® and Nimenrix® vaccines and are packed in different sized cartons. Please ensure you have enough fridge capacity before placing any orders. To help with planning storage requirements, the dimensions are: * MenQuadfi® is 58 x 32 x 45mm (H x W x D) * Nimenrix® was 57 x 27 x 135mm (H x W x D)

Please add MenQuadfi® to your routine ImmForm order where possible, rather than creating additional orders. To minimise wastage due to fridge failures, please order no more than 2 weeks’ worth of stock.

High-level ordering controls will be in place to reduce the risk of ordering errors only. These are not intended to restrict activity. Any further updates to ordering information will be published online as an ImmForm news article.

Details about the meningococcal vaccination programme are published in the Green Book Chapter 22 Further details about MenQuadfi® vaccine can be found in the MenQuadfi solution for injection – Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC).

Contact the helpdesk@immform.org.uk for ordering queries.

Change of vaccine for the pertussis (whooping cough)

vaccination in pregnancy programme from 1 July 2024

From 1 July 2024, the vaccine used for the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination in pregnancy programme has changed from Boostrix-IPV® to ADACEL®. Please refer to this publication for full details – Prenatal pertussis vaccine change from July 2024 letter

ADACEL® is now available to order via ImmForm. Boostrix-IPV® will continue to be the vaccine used for the pre-school booster vaccination of children, and for the maternal programme if ADACEL® is not available or is otherwise unsuitable (such as in individuals with a severe allergy to latex).

Providers who do not administer pre-school boosters and were unable to use up locally held stock of Boostrix-IPV® ahead of the change on 1 July 2024, may offer any remaining locally held stock of Boostrix-IPV® to pregnant women if this will prevent vaccine wastage.

ADACEL® vaccine ordered via ImmForm is supplied as a single dose pack, containing one pre-filled syringe. The pack does not contain a needle for administration.Guidance on the choice of needle size can be found in the Green Book Chapter 4. Needles should be obtained locally. Please add ADACEL® to your routine ImmForm order where possible, rather than creating additional orders.

To minimise wastage due to fridge failures, please order no more than 2 weeks’ worth of stock.

High-level ordering controls will be in place to reduce the risk of ordering errors only. These are not intended to restrict activity. Any further updates to ordering information will be published online as an ImmForm news article.

Details about the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination programme is published in the Green Book – Pertussis: the green book, chapter 24. Further details about ADACEL® vaccine can be found in the ADACEL suspension for injection in pre-filled syringe – Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC).

Contact the helpdesk@immform.org.uk for ordering queries.

Introduction of Abrysvo® RSV vaccine for older adults and during pregnancy for infant protection

From 1 September 2024, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) programmes will be introduced for older adults and during pregnancy for infant protection. Please refer to this publication for full details, introduction of new NHS vaccination programmes against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

The same RSV vaccine, Abrysvo®, will be used for both programmes. Abrysvo® vaccine is expected to be available to customers in England and Wales to order via ImmForm from 1 August 2024. Scottish customers should refer to local ordering guidance. Abrysvo® vaccine ordered via ImmForm will be supplied as a single dose pack, containing one vial of vaccine, diluent for reconstitution and patient information leaflet (PIL).

Each pack will also contain one 25 G x 25 mm (1”) needle. Guidance on the choice of needle size can be found in the Green Book Chapter 4. If required, other sizes of needles should be obtained locally.

The pack of Abrysvo® vaccine is physically larger than most other vaccines supplied via ImmForm. Please ensure you have enough fridge capacity before placing any orders. To help with planning storage requirements, each single dose pack measures 73 mm x 35 mm x 116 mm (H x W x D).

When ordering Abrysvo® vaccine, orders should be placed for the ImmForm product that is specific to each RSV protection programme. Product ordered for the infant RSV protection programme (offered to pregnant women) should not be used for the older adult RSV protection programme and vice versa. Account holders will see two different product lines and should order accordingly.

Packs Brand Total items/doses Total pack price
1 Abrysvo maternal vaccine for infant protection 1 £158.00
1 Abrysvo vaccine for adult protection 1 £158.00

High-level ordering controls will be in place to reduce the risk of ordering errors only. These are not intended to restrict activity. Any further updates to ordering information will be published online as an ImmForm news article. To minimise wastage due to fridge failures, please order no more than 2 weeks’ worth of stock. Details about the RSV vaccination programmes can be found in Green Book Chapter 27a.

Further details about Abrysvo® vaccine can be found here – Abrysvo powder and solvent for solution for injection – Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC).

Contact the helpdesk@immform.org.uk for ordering queries.

Vaccines for the 2024 to 25 children’s flu programme supplied by UKHSA

From 2024 LAIV will be a trivalent vaccine (rather than a quadrivalent) due to the removal of the B-Yamagata strain. This change in formulation by AstraZeneca was recommended by the World Health Organisation and is supported by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. The brand name for the trivalent vaccine is Fluenz® (the quadrivalent vaccine was named Fluenz® Tetra).

Presentation of the vaccine (i.e. pre-filled single dose nasal spray, supplied in a ten dose pack) remains the same, and LAIV will be available to order via ImmForm for providers of the children’s flu programme as usual (weblink 30).

All flu vaccines for the 2024 to 2025 children’s flu programme will be available to order by NHS providers in England via ImmForm.

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

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

Vaccines and availability

The 2 vaccines that will be available, preliminary indicative ordering dates and the groups that these vaccines should be ordered for are set out in the table below. At present these timings remain subject to change. 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 2 vaccines available and the groups these vaccines should be ordered for are shown in the table below. 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.

Vaccine Manufacturer Available to order for Anticipated order opening for providers
Fluenz® (LAIV) AstraZeneca All children from 2 years of age to school year 11; and Children in clinical risk groups aged 2 to <18 years[footnote 1]) Early-mid September
Cell Based Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (Surface Antigen, Inactivated) (QIVc) Seqirus Children in clinical risk groups aged 6 months to <2 years All other eligible[footnote 2] children aged 2 to <18 years for whom LAIV is unsuitable Early September

Editing Fluenz® (LAIV) orders

Due to the anticipated large volume of orders for Fluenz® in the first few weeks of ordering, orders for this product will be assembled as soon as they are placed and will not be editable. If you need to make an adjustment to your order after it has been placed, you will need to contact the helpdesk@immform.org.uk for ordering queries.

LAIV ordering information for General Practice

Ordering controls will be in place for general practices, to enable UKHSA to balance supply with demand. These controls will work by allocating an amount of LAIV based on the number of registered eligible patients and will be tailored to each practice.

UKHSA expects to be able to accommodate the following, however at this time, this information remains subject to change:

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

Multi-Branch Practices and LAIV allocations

Please note that GP practices or groups that operate over multiple sites but are part of the same organisation will have a joint allocation (as in previous years), 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 recommend that this agreement is in place before ordering opens to reduce the risk of supply interruption. The information above allows practices to estimate the amount of vaccine they will be initially allocated, and how it should be split between all sites.

LAIV ordering information for school-age providers

A default weekly ordering cap of 450 packs (4,500 doses) per week will be in place for school provider accounts.

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. Requests should be made by Friday 30 August to ensure that accounts are set up correctly before vaccine ordering commences.

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

Inactivated flu vaccine ordering

The Cell Based Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (Surface Antigen, Inactivated) (QIVc) will be available to order, in a single dose pack, for:

  • children in clinical risk groups aged from six months to less than 2 years old
  • children aged from 2 to <18 years old in clinical risk groups for whom LAIV is clinically contraindicated or otherwise unsuitable
  • healthy children from 2 years old to those in school year 11, for whom LAIV is unsuitable (for example, due to objection to LAIV on the grounds of its porcine gelatine content)

Order controls will also be in place for this vaccine as follows:

  • for GPs, there will be an initial cap of 10 doses/packs per week
  • for school-age providers, there will be a cap of 450 doses/packs per week

All influenza vaccines for the 2024 to 2025 season

Information on all influenza vaccines that have been marketed in the UK for the 2024 to 2025 flu season has been published.

The impact of changes to opening hours on routine vaccine deliveries

Please consider temporary changes to opening times when placing ImmForm orders. If you are aware of a scheduled site closure, please refrain from placing an order for that date. In case of a one-off closure, consider rescheduling your order for the week before or after. This approach will contribute to improved overall efficiencies and enhance delivery performance for the benefit of all customers. It is not possible to accommodate one-off changes to delivery days. Customers should report long-term changes to the days and times when they can accept deliveries, such as routine training days and closures, by contacting Movianto UK Customer Care (MoviantoUK.NHSCC@movianto.com; 01234 587207). This should not be used to report short-term changes due to absence or holidays.

DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB vaccine ordering

Supplies of DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB vaccines Infanrix hexa® and Vaxelis® are available for the routine infant primary immunisations programme. Orders for Infanrix hexa® remain unrestricted.

Customers in England and Wales may order up to 20 packs of Vaxelis® per ImmForm account per week – this will vary for customers taking part in the Oxford Vaccine Group trial. Customers in Scotland should refer to their local ordering restrictions. Providers should not order more than 2 weeks’ worth of stock to minimise wastage due to fridge failures. For assistance, please contact the ImmForm Helpdesk at helpdesk@immform.org.uk.

Registering for a new or updating your existing ImmForm vaccine ordering account

When you register for or update an existing ImmForm account, UKHSA as a wholesaler of vaccines needs to verify the requesting customer. Please ensure you have your professional regulatory body registration number or wholesaler dealer licence and an organisation code which can be verified when requesting updates or requesting a new vaccine ordering account. For more information please see the ImmForm Helpsheet: how to register.

The EU Falsified Medicines Directive and Delegated Regulation as applicable to UKHSA-supplied vaccines for the national immunisation programme

The EU Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) and Delegated Regulation impose legal obligations on the EU medicines supply chain to prevent entry of falsified medicinal products into the supply chain. The Delegated Regulation was implemented in all EU member states on 9 February 2019. Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the Delegated Regulation ceased to apply in Great Britain from 31 December 2020, but continues to apply in Northern Ireland.

Information for customers in Northern Ireland

FMD-barcoded packs of routine immunisation programme vaccines that are centrally supplied by UKHSA continue to be supplied with active FMD serialisation, and should be decommissioned by end users in Northern Ireland. Customers in Northern Ireland who access centrally supplied vaccines are encouraged to review local guidance on implementation of the EU FMD.

MMR vaccine ordering

In order to rebalance central supplies of both measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR vaccines), please consider ordering M-M-RvaxPRO® as your first choice, which is available to all customers without restriction. Customers in England and Wales who require Priorix®, for example because you serve communities that do not accept vaccines containing porcine gelatine, may order up to 15 packs of Priorix® per ImmForm account per week. For assistance with ordering more than 15 packs of Priorix®, please email your request to the ImmForm Helpdesk at helpdesk@immform.org.uk. Customers in Scotland should refer to their local ordering restrictions.

Non routine vaccine supply

Hepatitis A vaccine

Adult:

  • GSK: supply of Havrix Adult PFS singles and packs of 10 are currently available
  • Sanofi: Avaxim PFS singles and packs of 10 are currently available
  • MSD: VAQTA Adult is available

Paediatric:

  • GSK: supply of Havrix Paediatric singles and packs of 10 are currently available
  • MSD: VAQTA Paediatric is available
  • Sanofi: Avaxim Junior singles are currently available

Hepatitis B vaccine

Adult:

  • GSK: Engerix B PFS singles and packs of 10 are currently available
  • GSK: supply of Fendrix is currently available
  • MSD: HBVAXPRO 10 micrograms is available
  • MSD: HBVAXPRO 40 micrograms is available
  • Valneva: PreHevbri is available

Paediatric:

  • GSK: supply of Engerix B Paediatric singles is currently available
  • MSD: HBVAXPRO 5 micrograms is available

Combined hepatitis A and B vaccine

  • GSK: Twinrix Adult singles and packs of 10 are available
  • GSK: Twinrix Paediatric is currently available
  • GSK: Ambirix is available

Combined hepatitis A and Typhoid vaccine

Sanofi: Viatim is now a discontinued product and no longer available for sale.

Typhoid vaccine

  • Sanofi: Typhim singles and packs of 10 are available
  • Patientric: Vivotif is available

Rabies vaccine

  • Valneva; Rabipur is expected to be available during w/c 8 July 2024
  • Sanofi: Verorab currently out of stock

Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV)

MSD: supply of Pneumovax 23 (PPV23) PFS is available.

Pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine (PCV)

  • Pfizer: Prevenar 13 is currently available.
  • MSD: Vaxneuvance is currently available

Varicella zoster vaccine

  • GSK: VARILRIX is currently available
  • MSD: VARIVAX is available
  • MSD: ZOSTAVAX is now a discontinued product

Diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis (inactivated) vaccine

Sanofi: Revaxis is available.

Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (acellular) and (inactivated) vaccine

  • GSK: supply of Boostrix-IPV is currently available
  • Sanofi: Repevax is currently available

MMR

  • MSD: MMR Vaxpro is currently available
  • GSK: Priorix is currently available

Meningitis ACWY vaccine

  • GSK: Menveo is currently available
  • Pfizer: Nimenrix is currently available
  • Sanofi: MenQuadfi is available

Yellow fever

Sanofi : Stamaril is available.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine

  • MSD: GARDASIL has been discontinued
  • MSD: Gardasil 9 is currently available
  • GSK: Cervarix has been discontinued

Cholera vaccine

  • Valneva: Dukoral is available
  • Patientric: Vaxchora is available

Japanese encephalitis vaccine

Valneva: Ixiaro is available

Meningococcal group B vaccine

GSK: Bexsero is currently available

Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hib vaccine and poliomyelitis

GSK: Infanrix IPV+Hib is currently available

Hib + meningococcal group c combined vaccine

GSK: Menitorix is currently available

Live attenuated rotavirus vaccine

GSK: Rotarix is currently out of stock – expected recovery Q4

Herpes zoster vaccine

GSK: Shingrix is currently available

Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis

Sanofi: ADACEL is available to order without restrictions

Dengue tetravalent vaccine

GSK: Qdenga is currently available

  1. Unless LAIV clinically contraindicated or otherwise unsuitable.   ↩

  2. Children from 2 years of age to school year 11, and children in clinical risk groups aged 2 to <18 years. [↩] ↩

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