National flu vaccination programme letter for the 2023/24 season
Written by AlisonFreemantle on Friday 26th May 2023
Eligible cohorts & reimbursed vaccines
The Department of Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England have jointly published the national flu vaccination programme letter for the 2023/24 season.
Eligible cohorts
The letter confirms the eligible cohorts for the 2023/24 season and the vaccines which will be reimbursable under the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service.
50 to 64 year olds not at clinical risk are not included as a cohort for this coming season.
Reimbursed vaccines
No change to the recommended vaccines that will be reimbursed for adults in the 2023/24 programme however the advice on when second choice vaccines can be used has been strengthen.
The letter states that second line vaccines should only be used when every attempt to use first line recommended vaccines has been exhausted – evidence of this may be requested by NHS England before reimbursement is agreed.
For those aged 18 to 64 years in eligible clinical risk groups, the letter advises that while egg-grown quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVe) remains a second line vaccine, there is a potential advantage to using flu vaccines which do not use eggs in the manufacturing process (cell-culture or recombinant).
18 years to under 65 years in a clinical risk group and pregnant women - Give QIVc or QIVr.
If these are not available give QIVe.
65 years and over - Give aQIV or QIVr.
If these are not available give QIVc.
| Vaccine | Manufacturer |
| Cell-based Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (QIVc) Egg-free |
CSL Seqirus |
| Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine, egg-grown (QIVe) | Sanofi |
| Influvac sub-unit Tetra, Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine, egg-grown (QIVe) | Viatris (formerly Mylan) |
| Supemtek, recombinant Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (QIVr) Egg-free | Sanofi |
| Adjuvanted Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (aQIV) | CSL Seqirus |
The letter can be viewed here: