Flu and COVID-19 booster UK NHS Autumn 2024 campaign

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The UK’s national booking service for the Autumn 2024 annual flu vaccine and COVID-19 Autumn booster vaccine opens to the public on Monday September 23rd. You may be contacted by your GP practice earlier than this to make a booking. 

You may not be automatically contacted by your GP practice to be offered these immunisations and you may have to ask about receiving them, particularly if you have started immunosuppressant treatment in the last 12 months. 

The main UK flu and COVID-19 vaccination campaign starts on Thursday October 3rd. 

The last date for receiving both vaccines is Friday December 20th, but you may be able to get the flu vaccine until Monday March 31st 2025. 

Flu vaccine

As well as pregnant women and children being offered flu vaccine from September 1st, the following groups are being offered flu vaccine from October 3rd:

  • Age 65 and over (50 and over in Northern Ireland)
  • Age 18 to 65 in a ‘clinical risk group’ – this includes people on immunosuppressant treatment and/or on doses of 20mg/day or more of prednisolone for more than one month
  • Close contacts of immunocompromised people
  • Residents in long-stay care homes 
  • Carers who get Carer’s Allowance or who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
  • Frontline health and social care staff 

For more information, see: https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/flu-vaccine/ 

In Scotland, the eligible groups for flu vaccine are wider. See: https://www.nhsinform.scot/flu-vaccine 

In Northern Ireland, see: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/flu-vaccine

COVID-19 vaccine

An Autumn COVID-19 booster is being offered to the following groups:

  • Age 65 or over
  • Age 6 months to 64 years in a ‘clinical risk group’ – this includes people on immunosuppressant treatment and/or on doses of 20mg/day or more of prednisolone for more than one month
  • Residents in care homes for older adults
  • Frontline health and social care staff

Eligibility is the same across all countries of UK – England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland.

Note that there appears to be no offer of COVID-19 vaccine this year to those aged 12 to 64 who are household contacts of people on immunosuppressant treatment. 

For more information on UK COVID-19 immunisation, see: https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/02/whos-eligible-for-the-2024-covid-19-vaccine-or-autumn-booster/