Childhood Flu Vaccination Service
The Childhood Flu Vaccination Service was initially commissioned as an Advanced Service for a one-season trial of administering flu vaccinations to children aged 2-3 years from 1st October 2025, with an extension of the pilot in 2026/27.
The cohorts eligible for vaccination under this service have now been expanded to include:
- From 1st October 2026 – children aged 2 to 3 years old.
- From 1st October 2026 – children aged 2 years to 17 years in a clinical at risk group.
- From 1st October 2026 – children and young people aged 16 and 17 years old experiencing homelessness (as defined in the Green Book).
- From 1st December 2026 – catch up vaccinations of school aged children, from reception to year 11.
The re-commissioned service was announced via an amendment to the national flu letter.
For all the latest and most up-to-date information on the Childhood Flu Vaccination Service, refer to the CPE webpage here.
Eligible Patients
The Annual Flu Letter 2026/27 and Amendment confirm the eligible cohorts for the 2026/27 season.
If a vaccine is administered to patients in other groups, the pharmacy owner will not be paid for that vaccination, and the administration will have been undertaken outside the legal authority of the PGD.
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.
Use of RAVS from September 2026
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.
Pharmacy owners will still need to sign up for a RAVS account if they do not already have one.
Vaccines
First Line
Most eligible children will be vaccinated with Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) nasal spray suspension which is the first line vaccine. If a pharmacy does not have stock of LAIV when a patient presents, the parent/guardian should be directed to an alternative provider who has stock of LAIV or they should be asked to rebook when further stock will be available at the pharmacy.
This vaccine will be supplied by NHSE from centrally procured stock through the NHSE Federated Data Platform (FDP). Pharmacy owners must register for FDP to be able to order vaccines.
Guidance on how to register to access the FDP can be found here.
Second Line
When LAIV is contraindicated or otherwise unsuitable (for example, where parents object to LAIV on the grounds of its porcine gelatine content), Cell-Cultured Inactivated Influenza Vaccine (IIVc) should be used. This will not be centrally supplied and should be obtained by placing an order via manufacturers or wholesalers, in line with the normal approach to purchasing flu vaccine.
The reasons for use of the second line vaccine should be documented in the clinical record – evidence of this may be requested by NHS England before reimbursement is agreed. The annual flu letter does include a third line vaccine, but this cannot be administered as part of this service.
Briefing Documents and Resources
- Service specification 2026 to 2027
- Annual Flu Letter 26/27
- NHSE Operational Letter
- Flu vaccines for children and young people poster – information on the different types of flu vaccines available for children and young people for the 2026 to 2027 flu season.
- 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
For Patients
Paper copies of this leaflet are available to order for free or download on the Health Publications website using the product code 2025FCEN.
This leaflet is available to order and download in the following languages: Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Dari, 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, Yiddish, and Yoruba.
- This link can be shared with parents/carers of children eligible for the flu vaccine to support promotion of the service: see UKHSA – protect your child against flu
- Leaflet- Vaccines & Porcine Gelatine. Translations of this leaflets are available to download in: Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, Panjabi and Urdu.
- Stickers – are available to order (free) using product code SCHFLSTK to give to children who have received a flu vaccine.
Training Resources
- e-Learning for Healthcare Flu Immunisation online course – This interactive flu immunisation e-Learning programme, written by UKHSA and NHS England, is available for anyone involved in providing the flu vaccination programme.
- The manufacturer of the LAIV vaccine used in the NHS vaccination programme has a website for healthcare professionals, providing information on the product, including a video on how to administer the vaccine: AstraZeneca Fluenz website for healthcare professionals.
- Immunisation – this page, designed by CPPE, provides access to a variety of e-learning programmes and resources.
- NHS Education for Scotland has made a video for healthcare professionals on how to administer the Fluenz nasal spray including to children aged 2-5 years.
Last Updated: 17th August 2026
