Covid Vaccine Eligibility - more info to follow awaiting NHS guidance
Vaccination is a high priority action for the NHS, to protect people from serious illness and to support NHS and adult social care resilience.
Ensuring that eligible people receive high quality information about vaccination from people they trust, and providing a convenient offer in which people have confidence, are critical actions to maximise protection.
The government has accepted final advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) regarding a COVID-19 autumn/winter 2024/25 vaccination programme.
The groups to be offered a COVID-19 vaccine in autumn/winter 2024/25 are:
- residents in a care home for older adults
- all adults aged 65 years and over
- persons aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group - more details to follow
Flu Vaccine Eligibility - Saturday clinics or when you are seeing a clinician for another appointment - please remember to ask
The flu vaccine helps protect against flu, which can be a serious or life-threatening illness. It's offered on the NHS every year in autumn or early winter to people at higher risk of getting seriously ill from flu.
Who should have the flu vaccine
The flu vaccine is recommended for people at higher risk of getting seriously ill from flu.
It's offered on the NHS every year in autumn or early winter.
You can get the free NHS flu vaccine if you:
- are aged 65 or over
- have certain long-term health conditions
- are pregnant
- live in a care home
- are the main carer for an older or disabled person, or receive a carer's allowance
- live with someone who has a weakened immune system
The flu vaccine is recommended for people with certain long-term health conditions, including:
- conditions that affect your breathing, such as asthma (needing a steroid inhaler or tablets), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or cystic fibrosis
- heart conditions, such as coronary heart disease or heart failure
- chronic kidney disease
- liver disease, such as cirrhosis or hepatitis
- some conditions that affect your brain or nerves, such as Parkinson's disease, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy
- diabetes or Addison's disease
- a weakened immune system due to a condition such as HIV or AIDS, or due to a treatment such as chemotherapy or steroid medicine
- problems with your spleen, such as sickle cell disease, or if you've had your spleen removed
- a learning disability
- being very overweight – a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or above
Speak to us if you have a health condition and you're not sure if you're eligible for the flu vaccine.
Frontline health and social care workers will usually get the flu vaccine through their employer.
If you cannot get a flu vaccine through your employer, you can get it at a pharmacy or your GP surgery if you're employed:
- by a registered residential care or nursing home
- by a registered domiciliary care provider
- by a voluntary managed hospice provider
- through direct payments or personal health budgets
Having the flu vaccine at the same time as other vaccines
You can have the flu vaccine at the same time as other vaccines such as the COVID-19 vaccine and pneumonia vaccine.
Who cannot have the flu vaccine
Most people who are eligible for the flu vaccine can have it.
You only cannot have the vaccine if you've had a serious allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to a previous dose of the vaccine or an ingredient in the vaccine.
Some of the flu vaccines used in the UK contain egg protein. Tell the person vaccinating you if you have an egg allergy.
Side effects of the flu vaccine
The most common side effects of the flu vaccine are mild and get better within 1 to 2 days.
They can include:
- pain or soreness where the injection was given
- a slightly raised temperature
- an aching body
More serious side effects such as a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) are very rare. The person who vaccinates you will be trained to deal with allergic reactions and treat them immediately.
The injected flu vaccines used in the UK do not contain live flu viruses. They cannot give you flu.
Shingles Vaccination Eligibility - Wednesday afternoon clinics
You may have seen some coverage on recent promotional TV adverts and the National Press. We wanted to clarify the eligibility criteria, as it seemed to be causing some confusion with queries at reception.
From 1st September 2023, the eligibility has been extended, but this is a phased rollout meaning the eligibility is different depending if you are already 65 or if you are about to turn 65.
The table below shows the criteria. Please look up the group that describes you now.
| Group | Eligibility |
|---|
| Aged 50+ with weakened immune system | Two doses in the year you turn 50 |
| Aged 70-79 | 1 or 2 doses (6-12 months apart) |
| Turn 65 on or after 1 September 2023 | Eligible once you turn 65. Two doses, given 6-12 months apart. |
| Already 65 but not yet 70 | Eligible once you turn 70 |
The phased rollout means that people turning 65 are eligible, while those already 65 will become eligible when they are 70.
As we said, this is a phased expansion, with the aim of everyone aged 60 and above being eligible by 2033.
People aged 50 and over with a severely weakened immune system
You're eligible for the shingles vaccine if you're aged 50 or over and you're at higher risk from shingles because you have a severely weakened immune system.
This includes:
- some people with blood cancer (such as leukaemia or lymphoma)
- some people with HIV or AIDS
- some people who've recently had a stem cell transplant, radiotherapy, chemotherapy or an organ transplant
- people taking certain medicines that severely weaken the immune system
You'll be given 2 doses of the shingles vaccine. These are given between 8 weeks and 6 months apart.
Ask your GP or care team if you're not sure if you're eligible for the shingles vaccine.
What is Shingles?
Shingles is an infection that causes a painful rash. The first symptom can be a tingling or painful feeling in an area of the skin, with a rash appearing a few days later. You may also develop a headache and feel generally unwell.
The rash appears as blotches on your skin but only on one side of your body.
Rashes can take up to four weeks to heal, and medicine works best if taken within three days of the symptoms first appearing.
You can’t give shingles to other people but, because it is caused by the chicken pox virus, you can give people chicken pox to people who haven’t had it before.
You should particularly avoid pregnant people who haven’t had chicken pox, people with weakened immune systems, and young babies.
Having Shingles vaccine at the same as other vaccines
You can usually have the shingles vaccine at the same time as other vaccines such as the flu vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine and pneumococcal vaccine. However we like to have a separate shingles clinic midweek so ask the team for an appointment.
Side effects of the shingles vaccine
Most of the side effects of the shingles vaccine are mild and get better within 2 or 3 days.
They can include:
- swelling, itchiness, bruising or pain where the injection was given
- a headache
- an aching body
- feeling tired
- a high temperature
- shivering (chills)
More serious side effects such as a severe allergic reaction are very rare. The person who vaccinates you will be trained to deal with allergic reactions and treat them immediately.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) - Friday afternoon clinics
Overview
RSV is a common respiratory virus that generally causes mild illness with cold-like symptoms.
Most cases recover after two to three weeks of illness, but RSV can cause severe illness leading to complications and hospitalisation in some people, including:
- newborns
- infants
- older adults
Infants under one year of age and the elderly are at the greatest risk of hospitalisation with more severe RSV.
What RSV can lead to
The clinical significance of RSV in infants is that it can cause bronchiolitis which leads to:
- inflammation of the small airways
- significant breathing difficulties
In older adults, RSV is a cause of acute respiratory illness, such as pneumonia, particularly those living with:
How does the vaccine work?
Almost all older adults will have had several RSV infections during their life. A single dose of vaccine will help to boost protection as you reach an age group at highest risk of serious RSV infection.
Individuals aged 75 and over
The RSV vaccine is currently recommended for everyone turning 75 years old on or after the 1 August 2024, up to and including 31 July 2025.
For the first year of the programme, the vaccine will also be offered to those who are already aged 75 to 79 years on 1 August 2024.
This means individuals will be offered the vaccine if their date of birth is between 2 August 1944 and 31 July 1950 inclusive.
Pregnant individuals
Pregnant individuals are eligible from 28 weeks of their pregnancy until birth of the baby.
This is to offer the infant protection immediately after birth.
What about people who are under 75 years?
Younger people will be offered the vaccine when they reach 75 years of age.
Will I get any side effects?
You may get some soreness, redness or swelling at the site of the injection for a day or two after the vaccination.
How do I book?
Call into the surgery and ask at the desk or call the team and they will book you into the Friday afternoon clinics operating in September and then resuming in November onwards.