All vaccines for the 2023 to 2024 children’s flu programme now available to order on Immform
Vaccine Update -All vaccines for the 2023 to 2024 children’s flu programme now available to order on Immform
Points to note:
Both LAIV (Fluenz® Tetra) and QIVc are now available to order via ImmForm.
Please note that all information on the availability and allocation of vaccines for the children’s flu programme shown below remains subject to change at all times.
The latest and most accurate information on the availability of centrally supplied vaccines for the children’s flu programme is available on the ImmForm news page at all times and it is strongly advised that all parties involved in the provision of influenza vaccines to children ensure they remain up to date with this information.
UKHSA does not supply any flu vaccines for patients aged 18 years and over.
Please refer to guidance from your respective health departments for arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Vaccines and availability
All flu vaccines for the 2023 to 2024 children’s flu programme are now available to order by NHS providers in England via UKHSA’s ImmForm website.
The 2 vaccines available and the groups these vaccines should be ordered for are shown in the table below.
|
Vaccine |
Manufacturer |
Available to order from |
|
Fluenz® Tetra (LAIV) |
AstraZeneca
|
· All children from 2 years of age to school year 11; and · Children in clinical risk groups aged 2 to <18 years* |
|
Cell Based Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (Surface Antigen, Inactivated) (QIVc) |
Seqirus |
· Children in clinical risk groups aged 6 months to <2 years · All other eligible** children aged 2 to <18 years for whom LAIV is unsuitable |
*unless LAIV clinically contraindicated or otherwise unsuitable
** Children from 2 years of age to school year 11, and children in clinical risk groups aged 2 to <18 years.
Editing LAIV orders
Due to the anticipated large volume of orders in the first few weeks, orders for this product will be assembled as soon as they are placed and will not be editable. If you need to make an adjustment to your order after it has been placed, you will need to contact helpdesk@immform.org.uk for assistance.
LAIV ordering information for General Practice
As in previous seasons, ordering controls are in place for general practices, to enable UKHSA to balance supply with demand. These controls work by allocating an amount of LAIV based on the number of registered eligible patients and are tailored to each practice.
- Each GP practice has initially been allocated sufficient LAIV to vaccinate at least 50% of their eligible patients (all 2 and 3 year olds, plus children in clinical risk groups from age 4 to <18 years).
- Increases to these allocations may be made in due course, in response to demand and vaccine availability.
- Requests for extra vaccine will be considered on a case-by-case basis throughout the ordering period. Requests for additional vaccine should be sent to the helpdesk ( helpdesk@immform.org.uk ) and should be sent in good time before your order cut-off. Out of schedule deliveries will be by exception only.
You can view how many packs of LAIV your practice has available to order by clicking on the following link to the allocation report (you will be asked to log in with your ImmForm credentials). You will then need to select:
- Stock management reports; followed by
- Products available to order (Allocation managed) report.
Please note that this report is not updated in real-time and so may not account for any orders or allocation amendments made within the last 30-45 minutes.
Multi-Branch Practices and LAIV allocations
Please note that GP practices or groups that operate over multiple sites but are part of the same organisation will have a joint allocation (as in previous years), even where each site has a unique ImmForm account. This means that it is possible for one site to potentially order all of the available vaccine for the group, unless there is local agreement on how the allocated volume is shared. UKHSA recommend that this agreement is in place before ordering opens to reduce the risk of supply interruption.
LAIV ordering information for school-age providers
School providers are able to place 2 orders and receive 2 deliveries of LAIV per week, to assist in the management of vaccine volumes required across limited storage space at delivery points.
This operates on a 48-hour delivery schedule requiring the order to be placed before the 11.55am cut off 2 working days before the required delivery day. The table below illustrates the respective delivery days versus ordering day.
Order day (before 11.55am cut off) Delivery day
Monday Wednesday
Wednesday Thursday
Friday Friday
Thursday Monday
Friday Tuesday
Customers must ensure that the point of delivery will be open and staffed on the delivery day when placing orders.
Please note that this does not affect the routine ordering and delivery schedule of any other vaccines (including inactivated flu vaccines) ordered from ImmForm and is applicable to Fluenz® Tetra (LAIV) only.
A default weekly ordering cap of 450 packs (4,500 doses) per week is in place for school provider accounts.
Where this cap is insufficient and a provider needs a larger weekly volume of vaccine to deliver the programme (for example where a provider covers a large area using a single account), a higher weekly cap should be requested via the UKHSA Flu Vaccine Operations team by emailing childfluvaccine@ukhsa.gov.uk. Please ensure requests are sent at least 2 working days before an order is needed to be placed against the higher cap, to allow time for your account to be set up correctly.
For one-off larger orders during the ordering period, requests should be made via helpdesk@immform.org.uk.
Inactivated flu vaccine ordering
The Cell Based Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (Surface Antigen, Inactivated) (QIVc) is available to order, in a single dose pack, for:
- children in clinical risk groups aged from six months to less than 2 years old;
- children aged from 2 to <18 years old in clinical risk groups for whom LAIV is clinically contraindicated or otherwise unsuitable; and
- healthy children from 2 years old to those in school year 11, for whom LAIV is unsuitable (for example, due to objection to LAIV on the grounds of its porcine gelatine content)
Order controls are also in place for this vaccine as follows:
- for GPs, there will be an initial cap of 10 doses/packs per week
- for school-age providers, there will be a cap of 450 doses/packs per week.
