Flu vaccination: let’s build on progress during Big Week
Dear Colleagues,
Flu vaccination: let’s build on progress during Big Week
Thank you to everyone across primary care who is delivering this year’s flu vaccination programme. We are making progress: NEL flu uptake is currently 30.26% and is around 3 percentage points ahead of the same point last year, with improvement also visible across most recorded ethnic groups. This reflects the sustained work of practices, PCNs and their teams to identify, invite and vaccinate eligible residents.
However, we still have a considerable way to go. Uptake varies significantly between boroughs, PCNs, practices and population groups, and many eligible residents remain unvaccinated. With the regional Big Week campaign beginning next week, we are asking every practice and PCN to renew its focus and make a determined push throughout Big Week and the rest of November.
The three biggest opportunities for primary care
- Prioritise children aged two and three
Uptake in this cohort remains particularly low. Practices should complete a focused review of eligible children, contact parents and carers through more than one route, offer convenient appointments and follow up those who do not respond. Opportunistic vaccination should be used wherever clinically and operationally possible. - Find and vaccinate people aged under 65 in clinical risk groups
This is one of the largest remaining opportunities because of the size of the eligible population. Practices should use searches and call-and-recall processes to identify unvaccinated patients, prioritise those at greatest clinical risk and use routine appointments, long-term condition reviews and other contacts as opportunities to offer vaccination. - Actively identify household contacts of people who are immunosuppressed
Uptake remains very low in this group. Practices should ensure that eligible household contacts are being identified, informed that they are eligible and offered vaccination without creating unnecessary barriers. This includes making sure front-line teams understand the eligibility criteria and can respond confidently when residents come forward.
Our ask for Big Week and beyond this November
Please use next week to:
- review your current flu position and identify the cohorts and communities with the greatest remaining opportunity;
- intensify targeted invitations and follow-up, rather than relying on a single generic message;
- make every appropriate contact count by offering vaccination opportunistically; and
- work across your PCN to address variation, share capacity and support practices with the largest unvaccinated populations.
We are moving in the right direction. A focused push during Big Week and throughout November can convert that progress into meaningful protection for thousands more residents before winter pressures intensify