Seasonal Vaccination Advanced Services – Adult Flu
From April 2026, the Flu Vaccination Advanced Service will be replaced by the Seasonal Vaccination Services – COVID-19 and Adult Flu Advanced Services.
The new joint service specification for COVID and Adult Flu covers the provision of both seasonal COVID and adult flu vaccinations in community pharmacy during the 2026/27 season.
Pharmacies can still sign up to only deliver the Adult Flu Vaccination Service but pharmacies signing up to provide COVID are also required to deliver the Flu Vaccination Service.
Key changes to note for the 2026/27 season include:
- Registration is now a requirement for BOTH services (the service specification is clear that vaccines administered before registration will not be eligible for payment).
- Fees for both vaccinations uplifted but additional fee for housebound patients removed.
- Pharmacy owners must use the National Booking Service for COVID-19 vaccinations, but this is still not a requirement for flu.
- Pharmacy owners must seek agreement from their commissioner if they want to provide COVID-19 and flu vaccinations away from the pharmacy premises.
- Use of RAVS – from 1st September 2026 community pharmacies must record all NHS vaccinations in the Record a Vaccination Service (RAVS) IT system, either accessing the service directly or via an approved pharmacy IT system.
Registration for Signing Up to Provide Adult Flu
- Pharmacies that want to provide the Adult Flu Vaccination Service will be able to sign up from 1st April 2026 on the MYS portal.
- Pharmacies that register for COVID-19 will be automatically registered for the Adult Flu Vaccination Service, as this is a requirement of COVID-19 vaccination registration. In this circumstance, pharmacy owners will not have to register for the Adult Flu Vaccination Service separately.
- The deadline to register on MYS is 30th November 2026.
Key highlights include:
- People experiencing homelessness (defined as rough sleepers and those using homeless hostels or night shelters), aged 16 years and over are included as an eligible group.
- As per the 2025/26 season, pharmacies will only be able to vaccinate pregnant women from 1st September 2026; vaccination of other adult cohorts will start from 1st October 2026.
- There are two changes to the recommended vaccines that pharmacy owners will need to consider when finalising their orders.
- There is a reinforcement of the circumstances when the egg-based vaccine, IIVe, can be used.
See more information on the Community Pharmacy England website here.
Use of RAVS from September 2026
From 1st September 2026, community pharmacies must record all NHS vaccinations in the Record a Vaccination Service (RAVS), either accessing the service directly or via an approved pharmacy IT system. NHSE is currently working with pharmacy IT suppliers to make it easier to access RAVS from their systems, however, you will still need to sign up for a RAVS account if you don’t already have one.
Flu Vaccines for 2026/27
The preferred adult flu vaccines that will be reimbursed for the 2026/2027 season are listed in the table below. All preferred vaccines are trivalent.
There have been two changes to the JCVI advice for adult flu vaccines for 2026 to 2027.
- In those aged 65 years and older, IIVc (cell-cultured) should be considered equivalent to allV (adjuvanted), llV-HD (high-dose) and IIVr (recombinant); and
- In those aged 50 years to 59 years in clinical risk groups, IIV-HD can be used off-label.
The egg-cultured influenza vaccine (IIVe) should only be offered to those aged 18 years to less than 65 years if the preferred flu vaccines listed above are not available to order. Once the vaccination campaign has started, if additional stock for those aged under 65 years of age is needed, IIVe should only be ordered if the above JCVI preferred vaccines are not available.
The annual flu letter provides a reminder that contractual requirements for all commissioned NHS flu vaccination providers state that to receive payment for flu vaccination and reimbursement of flu vaccine, they will need to use the specific flu vaccines outlined above for the appropriate cohort and administer vaccines in line with the announced and authorised cohorts. Commissioners will actively recover any payments made for the incorrect vaccine administered.
PGD & VGD for 2026/27
The Patient Group Direction (PGD) and Vaccine Group Direction (VGD) for the Autumn/Winter 2026/27 Vaccination Campaign are available via the links below.
VGDs are a new legal route which can be used to authorise administration of vaccines. In summary, they operate in a similar way to a PGD, with pharmacists and pharmacy technicians operating as the clinician, but with the opportunity for some tasks within the process (preparation, administration and record-keeping) to be delegated to other suitably trained staff.
Download the NHS Flu vaccination PGD
Download the NHS Flu vaccination VGD
The choice of whether to operate under a PGD or a VGD is the decision of the pharmacy owner.
Claiming Payment
All payments must be claimed monthly via the NHSBSA Manage Your Service (MYS) portal.
Claims for payment should be submitted within one month of, and no later than three months from the claim period for the activity provided. Claims which relate to work completed more than three months after the claim period in question, will not be paid.
Briefing Documents and Resources
- Service Specification – 2026 to 2027
- Annual Flu Letter 26/27
- NHSE Operational Letter
- Flu Vaccines Marketed in the UK 26/27
- NHSE Seasonal Vaccination Provider Programme Guide
- The national flu vaccination programme training slide set 2026 to 2027
- Chapter 19 of the Immunisation Against Infectious Disease, “The Green Book”, can be downloaded here.
- Flu Vaccination Programme – Information for Healthcare Professionals
Pharmacy Team Resources
Refer to the Community Pharmacy England Seasonal Vaccination Services page here for additional guidance and resources for pharmacy teams. This includes a checklist to help pharmacy owners and their teams to prepare for and to provide the service which can also be found below.
Flu Implementation – Pharmacy Owner Checklist
Flu Implementation – Vaccinator Checklist
The training requirements now include the completion of e-learning for healthcare website modules on flu vaccinations.
Training Requirements and Resources
Staff providing the service and administering vaccines will need to be authorised to operate under the appropriate legal framework. That means the service will generally be provided by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians within community pharmacies, but other registered healthcare professionals/staff able to operate under the appropriate legal mechanisms (PGD / VGD) may also administer vaccines.
Any pharmacy staff involved in the provision of the service should receive appropriate training relevant to the role they will undertake which includes the completion of e-learning for healthcare website modules on flu vaccinations.
Training for flu vaccinators should be undertaken in line with the recommendations made in the National Minimum Standards and Core Curriculum for Vaccination Training.
Pharmacy owners are required to demonstrate that all staff providing the service in their pharmacy have the skills and knowledge needed to do so. See under training requirements and resources on the CPE website.
Annual Update Training
Vaccinators are expected to undertake annual update training, to ensure their knowledge stays up to date with changes in practice and guidance.
This may involve self-directed learning, using relevant references sources, such as the Green Book and the annual flu letter. It may also include online training which is available from a range of providers.
An interactive flu immunisation e-learning programme, written by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and produced by Health Education England’s e-Learning for Healthcare, is available for anyone involved in delivering the flu immunisation programme and could be used as part of annual update training.
IT Issues
To support business continuity provisions in the event of IT issues:
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In exceptional circumstances, where the IT system is unavailable which is beyond the control of the pharmacy owner, then the following record form may be used to maintain provision of the service. The record of vaccination must be added to the system as soon as possible after the IT system becomes available again.
NHS Flu Vaccination Service Record Form
Service Delivery Resources – Promoting the Service to Patients
Leaflet – Flu Vaccination; Who Should Have It And Why
Paper copies of this leaflet are available free to order or download.
Accessible formats such as Audio, Braille, BSL video and Large Print are also available.
Translations of this leaflet are available to download: Albanian, Arabic, Be
Refer to the Community Pharmacy England Seasonal Vaccination Services page here for service delivery resources.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Community Pharmacy England website is a great source of information and resources for pharmacy teams. This includes a useful Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers page which are updated on an ongoing basis:
Last Updated: 17th August 2026
