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The Government have released guidance on delivering the flu vaccination programme during the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020/2021.
This will be the largest national flu immunisation programme to date offering 30 million people a vaccine. This edition also covers co-infection of flu and COVID-19 and provides calls to action for the wider health economy and local authorities as we prepare for the first winter with co-circulation of flu and COVID-19.
People who will be eligible for the NHS funded flu immunisation programme include:
- All children aged 2 to 11 years on 31 August 2020
- Those aged 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups
- Those aged 65 years and over
- Those in long-stay residential care homes
- The main carers of older or disabled people
- Close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
- Pregnant women
- Health and social care staff employed by a registered residential care or nursing home, registered domiciliary care provider or a voluntary managed hospice provider
Additionally, this year, the flu vaccination will be offered to:
- Household contacts of those on the NHS shielded patients list – specifically individuals who expect to share living accommodation with a shielded person on most days over the winter and for whom continuing close contact is unavoidable
- Children of school Year 7 age in secondary schools (those aged 11 years on 31 August 2020)
- Health and social care workers employed through Direct Payment (personal budgets) and or Personal Health Budgets (such as Personal Assistants) to deliver domiciliary care to patients and service users
- The programme will be further extended from November and December 2020 to include the 50 to 64 year old age group. This extension is being phased to allow prioritisation of those in at-risk groups first.
