National Flu Immunisation Programme 2018/19
NEW: PHE leaflet for over 65s flu vaccine - October 2018
Public Health England have produced a leaflet for patients aged over 65 about this year’s adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine (aTIV) or Fluad ®. Download leaflet www.gov.uk/government/publications/flu-vaccination-for-people-aged-65-and-older
aTIV Letter and Programme Delivery Guidance Issued - 2 August 2018 Updated 28 September 2018
Flu Vaccs 2018 planning Flu Clinics
Flu Programme Delivery Guidance
Local Actions to ensure aTIV Is offered to individuals aged 65 and above
Top Tips our thanks to Wessex LMC for sharing this Document
Carers Flu Vaccination Toolkit
National Flu Immunisation Programme letter for 2018/19 can be viewed here letter
The letter was released on 26th March, it includes detail of extension of the childhood flu immunisation programme to include children in school year 5.
The aim must be to use the most effective vaccine for the population.
1. The adjuvanted trivalent vaccine (aTIV) should be used for all patients aged 65 and over. This is the most effective vaccine for this age group.
2, The quadrivalent vaccine (QIV) for 18 - under 65s at risk. This vaccine will be used in the childhood vaccines and is the most effective in this age group.
Suppliers have confirmed that there will be enough aTIV and QIV to meet the demand.
If you have any problem placing or amending your order please contact the local NHS England Team.
There has been concern about the funding for these vaccines which are more expensive than some vaccines used this year. NHS England have confirmed additional funding has been made available to ensure practices can deliver these vaccines to their registered population.
Individuals who have inadvertently been given a flu vaccine that is not the one recommended for their age group
If an individual has inadvertently received a flu vaccine different to the one recommended for their age group, they should be informed of the error and the potential implications of this error. Although both the QIV and aTIV should provide some protection against flu in all age groups, individuals aged 65 years and over (particularly those more than 75 years of age) may not respond as well to the QIV as they would to the aTIV, and individuals aged under 65 years will not benefit from the opportunity to make protection against an additional flu strain if they have been given aTIV.
If the individual wishes to receive the vaccine that they should have been given, this can be offered following a discussion of the benefits and risks. The clear benefit is the additional protection that may be offered by the correct vaccine but they should be alerted to the potential increased risk of a local or systemic reaction. Although there is no data available on the safety and effectiveness of administering a second flu vaccine shortly after the first in adults, this advice is based on general principles of vaccination, experience of flu revaccination following cold chain and administration incidents and information about the high dose flu vaccine used in the United States (which contains four times the amount of antigen that is in a single dose of QIV or aTIV).
If a decision is made to offer the vaccine the individual should have received, it is recommended that this is done as soon as possible after the first dose was given and ideally within a week. This will enable protection to be made as soon as possible. It can still be given if more than a week has elapsed however.
