Influenza Vaccine Eligibility

The following patients are eligible for an NHS vaccine in 2025 to 2026

From 1 September 2025:

• pregnant women
• all children aged 2 or 3 years old (on 31 August 2025)
• all primary school aged children (from Reception class to Year 6) – will be given in school
• secondary school-aged children from Years 7 to 11 – will be given in school
• all children in clinical risk groups aged from 6 months to less than 18 years

From 1 October 2025:

• those aged 18 to under 65 years in clinical risk groups
• those aged 65 years and over
• those in long-stay residential care homes
• carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• those living in long-stay residential care homes or nursing homes other long-stay health or social care facilities or a house bound Patient (defined in the ES specification) ^{[footnote 1]}

Examples of those in clinical risk groups:

• chronic (long-term) respiratory disease, such as asthma (requires continuous or repeated use of inhaled or systemic steroids or with previous exacerbations requiring hospital admission), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or bronchitis
• chronic heart disease, such as heart failure
• chronic kidney disease at stage 3, 4 or 5
• chronic liver disease
• chronic neurological disease, such as Parkinson’s disease or motor neurone disease
• learning disability
• diabetes and adrenal insufficiency
• splenic dysfunction or asplenia
• a weakened immune system due to disease (such as HIV/AIDS) or treatment (such as cancer treatment)
• morbidly obese (defined as BMI of 40 and above)