NHS Flu and C-19 vaccine programmes roll out to all those eligible
From today (1st October), the flu and COVID-19 vaccination programmes rollout to all eligible people.
For adult flu vaccinations, this includes people aged 65 and over, adults with certain long-term health conditions, care home residents, carers, close contacts of people who are immunocompromised and people experiencing homelessness.
Community pharmacies are now also able to provide flu vaccinations to all children aged 2- and 3-years old and children aged 4-17 years old with certain long-term health conditions.
Pharmacy owners are reminded that pharmacies cannot administer flu vaccinations to school aged children (Reception to Year 11) who are not part of the clinical at-risk cohort until 1st December 2026.
Reminder – use of RAVS
Community pharmacies must record all NHS vaccinations in the Record a Vaccination Service (RAVS) IT system.
RAVS allows a pharmacy owner to create a clinical record of a vaccination administered, via structured data and information recorded in a free-type section. In that way, the data that the Patient Group Directions or Vaccine Group Directions require to be recorded for each vaccination can be captured in RAVS.
Pre-consultation screening
We have developed two questionnaires for use with patients or the parents or guardians of a patient. These questionnaires may assist with collecting some key information prior to the consultation for a flu or COVID-19 vaccination, should pharmacy teams wish to use them.
They do not replace the need for a clinician to assess the patient’s eligibility and suitability for vaccination, applying their clinical knowledge and judgement.
Adult pre-consultation screening questionnaire (PDF)
Adult pre-consultation screening questionnaire (Microsoft Word)
Childhood flu and COVID-19 pre-consultation questionnaire (October 2026) v2
Childhood flu and COVID-19 pre-consultation questionnaire (October 2026) v2 (Microsoft Word)
Pharmacy team training
A pharmacy team briefing has been developed to assist pharmacy owners to engage and brief their team members about the service.
Promoting the services
You can promote both flu and COVID-19 vaccination offers to your patients and local community using our range of promotional materials.
CPE Flu Vaccination Service promotional materials
CPE Childhood Flu Vaccination Service promotional materials
Who should have the C-19 vaccine poster
Information on immunosuppression and C-19 vaccination poster
In addition, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency have a winter vaccines communications toolkit for stakeholders. This also includes messaging, resources and further information on the RSV, COVID-19 and pneumococcal programmes.
More information on these services can be found on our service webpages.
Seasonal Vaccination Services – COVID-19 and Adult Flu
Childhood Flu Vaccination Service
