NHS England has published information to help pharmacies to plan for the 2018/19 flu vaccination season. It can be accessed at https://bit.ly/2PzSMB9.

This year, three types of flu vaccine will be used in the flu programme.

• Adjuvanted trivalent flu vaccine (aTIV) is recommended for people aged 65 years. Deliveries of aTIV to pharmacies will be staged between September and early November.
• Quadrivalent vaccine (QIV) is recommended for children aged from 6 months to 2 years
  and in adults from 18 years to less than 65 years of age who are at increased risk from flu because of a long term health condition.
• Live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) is a nasal spray and is to be used for children and young people from 2-18 years of age. The age groups targeted in England for this vaccine in 2018/19 are two and three year olds (through their GP surgery) and school aged children in reception class through to Year 5 (through schools).

Pharmacies are advised to start vaccinating each eligible group as the appropriate vaccine for them becomes available. Vaccines will become available at different times from September onwards.

The fee for the service will increase to £7.98 per administered dose plus an additional
fee of £1.50 per vaccination, making the total payment £9.48. Contractors can now administer vaccinations in patients’ homes.

PSNC resources to support the flu vaccination service can be found at: https://bit.ly/2PsPxvc

The requirement for contractors to register to offer the service with NHS BSA has been removed, and payment claims from pharmacies can be made electronically.