Before the pandemic flu jabs were offered to healthy adults over the age of 65, as well as to children and younger adults with health conditions.
During the pandemic the rollout of flu jabs was extended to cover those aged 50 to 64 in line with those eligible for Covid boosters.
One source close to the rollout said the scaling back of the flu programme was an attempt to “go back to normal” after the pandemic.
Major decline in vaccine uptake last year
Uptake of both flu and Covid jabs among those aged between 50 and 64 fell sharply last winter.
Just 40.6 per cent of those aged between 50 and 65 in England came forward for a flu vaccination in 2022-23, down from 45.7 per cent the year before.
Meanwhile, six million people, or 51.7 per cent, from the same age range came forward for a Covid booster last winter, down from 77.6 per cent the previous year.
Health officials say the later start in October this year will “maximise protection during the worst months for viruses of December and January”. There will also be 12 million fewer people being offered jabs – almost half of the 26 million previously eligible for Covid jabs – enabling a more swift rollout.
Anyone under 65 in a clinical risk group as well as healthcare workers and carers will still also be eligible for flu and Covid jabs. Children aged between two and 17 will also be eligible for flu nasal sprays, while some who are clinically at risk will be eligible for Covid jabs.
A senior health source said the decision to limit Covid jabs to the over 65s would put it in line with recommendations on flu, allowing for “easier co-administration of both jabs at the same appointment”.
An NHS spokesman said: “The NHS flu vaccination programme will begin in October based on the latest clinical evidence – it will maximise protection for patients right across the winter months when it is typically colder, and viruses are more likely to spread with people spending more time indoors.
Sites to offer flu and Covid vaccines at same visit
“The NHS is working to ensure a growing number of vaccine sites across England offer both flu and Covid-19 vaccines in the same visit, to make it as convenient as possible for people to get life-saving protection from both viruses ahead of winter.”
It comes after NHS England warned at a board meeting last month that Australia, whose flu seasons usually forecast England’s, was experiencing “one of its biggest flu seasons on record”, with children making up four in five flu-related hospital admissions.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr Vin Diwakar, medical director for transformation, said this winter would be “a difficult one” as the health service set out its winter plan, which included rolling out respiratory hubs to stop GPs becoming overwhelmed.
Dr Adrian Boyle, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, last month raised fears that this winter would see more deaths than last.
The senior medic said NHS plans to head off a winter crisis were inadequate as he accused the Government of “blithely sailing towards an iceberg”.
