The list of patients eligible for a free shot will be in line with “pre-pandemic” recommendations, NHSE&I wrote in a letter published this afternoon (March 2), following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and the Department of Health and Social Care (DH).

This means that community pharmacies will only be reimbursed for vaccines administered to those aged 65 years and over and at-risk adults aged 18-64, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) clarified.

Last year, NHSE&I modified the community pharmacy flu service specification for that year “only”, to reflect that community pharmacies could offer a free flu jab to their teams and other primary care providers.

NHSE&I said that while vaccination is recommended for healthcare staff, it should be “provided by employers as part of the organisation’s policy to prevent the transmission of infection”.

“Seasonal flu vaccination remains an important public health intervention and a key priority for 2022/23 to reduce morbidity, mortality and hospitalisation associated with flu at a time when the NHS and social care will be managing winter pressures, potentially including further outbreaks of COVID-19,” NHSE&I wrote in the letter.

Uptake targets

Providers should aim to achieve “at least the uptake levels of 2021/22 for each cohort” in the upcoming season, NHSE&I specified.

Last year, pharmacy teams in England smashed their previous flu jab administration record within just two months of launching the 2021/22 service.

The reimbursable vaccines are the same as the previous season: aQIV/QIVr or QIVc where aQIV or QIVr is not available for those aged 65 and over; and QIVc/QIVr or QIVe where QIVc or QIVr is not available for at-risk adults.

However, NHSE&I specified that some vaccines could be available in limited quantities “due to manufacturing processes and commissioning arrangements”.

For this reason, they are encouraging providers to place their orders with more than one manufacturer and to bear in mind that “it is not anticipated that any stock will be centrally procured by the DH for the 2022/23 season”.

“General practices and community pharmacies will also want to work closely with their primary care networks to maximise vaccine coverage and to minimise vaccine wastage. This will also support the achievement of incentives within their respective contracts,” NHSE&I added.

Community pharmacies in England vaccinated 2,877,705 people against the seasonal flu within two months since the launch of the 2021/22 programme. According to provisional data collated by PSNC, they had administered 4,785,122 doses as of February 17.

This story was updated to reflect that the cohort no longer eligible for a free flu jab in 2022/23 includes those aged 50-64, not those aged 50-65 as previously stated.