Boots said its pharmacy team at the London Covent Garden store told Keir Starmer how “popular” the Pharmacy First and blood pressure check services had been.
The PM’s visit follows medicines minister Karin Smyth trip to Bristol’s Bedminster Pharmacy to get her jab. She stressed its importance to “protect the most vulnerable from potentially serious illness”.
Read more: Pharmacies face COVID jab chaos after ‘reckless’ rule change
Pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock also visited Bedminster Pharmacy last October, the first time he visited a community pharmacy since he began in his role in July 2024.
It comes as NHSE announced yesterday (October 9) that 4.3 million people had received the flu vaccine by the week ending October 3, 2025.
This was up 28% from 3.36 million by the same week ending October 4, 2024, last year.
NHSE national director for primary care and community services Dr Amanda Doyle said she is “delighted to see this big increase in the numbers of people getting vaccinated at this stage”.
It comes as the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA’s) latest data showed increased flu and COVID activity, and its consultant epidemiologist Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal said there’s been “a rise in people being hospitalised with COVID-19”.
Read more: ‘No plans’ to roll out all adult NHS vaccines in pharmacies
NHSE said over a million people had also received the COVID vaccine as pharmacy teams last week reported “major issues” to Community Pharmacy England (CPE) about “large numbers” of patients booking NHS COVID-19 vaccinations who “are not eligible”.
It comes after the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) – in line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) – announced in June that the age of adults eligible for the jab would rise from 65-plus to “75 years and over”.
