Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to expand the eligibility criteria for winter flu vaccinations.

Eligibility for the seasonal influenza vaccination programme is based on the advice and recommendations of an independent expert committee, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The latest JCVI advice on seasonal influenza vaccines is available on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation#influenza-vaccines-jcvi-advice

Details on the annual influenza vaccination programme, based on the JCVI’s advice, are set out in the annual flu letter, a copy of which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-flu-immunisation-programme-plan-2024-to-2025/national-flu-immunisation-programme-2024-to-2025-letter

The groups in the 2024/25 programme are:

• pregnant women;
• all children aged two or three years old on 31 August 2024;
• primary school aged children, from Reception to Year 6;
• secondary school aged children, from Year 7 to Year 11;
• all children in clinical risk groups aged from 6 months to less than 18 years old;
• those aged 65 years old and over;
• those aged 18 to under 65 years old in clinical risk groups;
• those in long-stay residential care homes;
• carers;
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals; and
• frontline health and social care workers.

The JCVI keeps its advice on seasonal influenza vaccines under regular review.