NHS England delivers fastest winter flu and Covid vaccine campaign ever

NHS England has rolled out the fastest flu vaccination campaign ever with more than 10 million flu jabs delivered to those most at risk.

Analysis also indicates that this year has been the quickest roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine to care homes, with over seven million delivered overall. Over 12,000 care homes have been canvassed already, which is the equivalent of 80% of all the sites in England.

A record three million people have gotten their flu and Covid vaccines at the same appointment, while more care homes have been visited in the first five weeks of the programme than ever before.

NHS England’s chief delivery officer and national director for vaccinations and screening, Steve Russell, said: “These uptake figures are very encouraging, and show the NHS is making excellent progress in helping those most at risk of life-threatening flu and COVID-19 viruses, get the protection they need this winter, but we want to ensure even more people are booking appointments.”

Over 10 million flu vaccines, and seven million COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered since national bookings opened last month.

People aged 65 and over and care home residents are among the first to have been vaccinated. Check if you’re eligible now. https://t.co/wLrjm0YDlF pic.twitter.com/g4HaKte6Qi

— NHS England (@NHSEngland) October 18, 2023

The faster deployment comes after the health service elected to bring this year’s winter programme forward after the emergence of the BA.2.86 Covid variant.

More sites than usual (almost 5,000) have participated in the campaign this year to make getting protection as easy as possible for people.

Health minister, Maria Caulfield, commented: “Our NHS staff are doing a wonderful job and the National Booking System is now open so, if you are eligible, please do take up the offer and get your Covid and flu jabs as soon possible.”

NHS England announced earlier this year that over 86 million Covid vaccination appointments have been arranged using the national booking system since its launch in January 2021.

Image credit: iStock