Flu Vaccination Advanced Service
The Flu Vaccination Advanced Service is commissioned on a seasonal basis, each year from autumn through to March.
Please refer to the Community Pharmacy England (CPE) Flu Vaccination Hub here for the latest news and updates on the service.
2025/26 Service
The annual flu letter was published early February 2025 – see here.
Key highlights are:
- There are no changes to the eligible cohorts for the 2025/26 season.
- From 1st September 2025 and in line with the 2024/25 season, pharmacies will only be able to vaccinate pregnant women. Then, from October 2025, vaccination of the other adult cohorts will commence, with the exact starting date to be confirmed by NHS England in due course.
- There are changes to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommended adult flu vaccines for the 2025/26 season.
- Reinforced advice regarding the restriction on the use of second line vaccines and to place orders with more than one manufacturer to ensure receipt of sufficient stock.
Flu Vaccines for 2025/26
The annual flu letter for 2025/26 is clear that first line vaccines for a given cohort should be ordered. The letter also advises that one of the antigens which forms a component of flu vaccines is no longer warranted. As a result, manufacturers have either already received, or applied for, MHRA approval to produce a trivalent formulation for the 2025 to 2026 season.
There has been one change to the advice for adult flu vaccines for 2025 to 2026 recommended by JCVI, as the adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine (aTIV) is now licensed from age 50 years and over.
When ordering flu vaccines, pharmacy owners should order the JCVI advised first line vaccines irrespective of whether they are currently described as quadrivalent (Q) or trivalent (T) formulations in the table below.
To receive payment for flu vaccination and reimbursement of flu vaccine the flu vaccines outlined above for the appropriate cohorts must be used and administered in line with the announced and authorised cohorts. Commissioners will actively recover any payments made for the incorrect vaccine administered.
First line vaccines should always be ordered for a given cohort.
Once the vaccination campaign has started, if providers need additional stock, second line vaccines should only be ordered if first line options are not available to order. Where a provider does not have a first line vaccine in stock, patients should be directed to an alternative provider who has stock of a first line vaccine or told to rebook when the new stock is available.
Vaccination with a second line vaccine should only be considered on an exceptional basis where there is a valid reason why the patient may not return for a further appointment.
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
- Annual Flu Letter 25/26
- Flu Vaccines Marketed in the UK 25/26
- Chapter 19 of the Immunisation Against Infectious Disease, “The Green Book”, can be downloaded here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/influenza-the-green-book-chapter-19.
Pharmacy Team Resources
Refer to the Community Pharmacy England Flu Vaccination Hub 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 and can also be found below.
Download checklist for the NHS Flu Vaccination Service
Service Delivery Resources – Promoting the Service to Patients
Refer to the Community Pharmacy England Flu Vaccination Hub 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: 19th June 2025
