Influenza: Vaccination
(asked on 5th February 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of the level of uptake of the flu vaccine in (a) 2024 and (b) the last five years for which data is available.
The UK Health Security Agency publishes provisional monthly data on flu vaccine uptake in England in eligible patient groups, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figures
The following table shows the percentage of general practice patients with vaccination coverage, broken down by patient groups, from 2019/20 to 2024/25:
Patient group | Over 65 years old | At risk | Pregnant women | Two year olds | Three year olds |
2024/25 | 73.8% | 38.6% | 33.7% | 40.9% | 42.4% |
2023/24 | 77.0% | 40.3% | 30.9% | 41.0% | 41.3% |
2022/23 | 78.4% | 46.3% | 33.2% | 39.8% | 42.2% |
2021/22 | 81.5% | 49.3% | 37.3% | 46.6% | 49.1% |
2020/21 | 80.2% | 51.5% | 43.0% | 54.1% | 56.5% |
2019/20 | 70.6% | 40.8% | 41.3% | 37.0% | 36.9% |
In addition, the following table shows the percentage of school aged children and frontline health care workers in England with vaccination coverage, from 2019/20 to 2024/25:
| Primary school, from Reception to Year 6 | Secondary school | Frontline health care workers |
2024/25 | 54.0% | 44.0% | 36.2% |
2023/24 | 53.8% | 41.2% | 41.0% |
2022/23 | 55.5% | 10.3% | 46.7% |
2021/22 | 52.9% | 37.8% | 58.8% |
2020/21 | 59.8% | 53.5% | 75.3% |
2019/20 | 57.9% | N/A | 68.5% |
Note: for secondary school pupils, the eligible year groups varied by season, and so for the years 2024/25, 2023/24, and 2021/22 the data covers those from Year 7 to Year 11, but for 2022/23 it only covers those from Year 7 to Year 9, and for 2020/21, it just includes those in Year 7.
Caution should be used when comparing flu vaccine uptake between seasons. In 2024/25, adult groups, excluding pregnant women, were eligible from 3 October, rather than 1 September, as in previous seasons. Therefore, vaccine uptake data for this season is not comparable to previous seasons in these groups. In addition, the roll out to secondary school aged children has not been uniform, in some years not all of those in Year 7 to Year 11 were offered the vaccine.