2025-26 Autumn / Winter Flu and COVID Vaccination Campaign

Posted on:

In line with government guidance, the main 2025-26 autumn / winter flu and COVID vaccination campaign commences on 1st October.

Please note, eligibility for the seasonal flu vaccination remains the same as previous years, however eligibility for a COVID booster is different and aligns to the spring campaign.

Eligibility for a Flu Vaccination

  • 65 years and over;
  • 18 – 64 years at clinical risk;
  • Those in long stay residential care homes;
  • Carers of elderly or disabled persons;
  • Close contacts of immunocompromised individuals;
  • Frontline workers in a social care setting.

Eligibility for a COVID Booster

  • Residents in a care home for older adults;
  • All adults aged 75 years and over;
  • Patients aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed.

At Woolpit Health Centre we will kick off the campaign with two large clinics as follows:

Wednesday 1st October – Flu ONLY for eligible patients under the age of 75 years

Saturday 4th October – COVID and Flu for patients over the age of 75 years ONLY

Eligible patients will receive an invitation via SMS or letter.

Housebound patients will be notified of their vaccination date by telephone.

During this busy time, we try hard to minimise disruption to our core primary care services. This includes protecting our Care Navigation / Reception team so that they can remain focused on supporting patients who need triaging into urgent and routine appointments.

We have a small team who are dedicated to managing our vaccination programmes. During the season they handle large numbers of telephone and email enquiries.

Request to Patients

  1. Please wait for your invitation via SMS or letter.
  2. Upon receipt please only contact the team if you need to change your appointment or cannot use the SMS booking link.
  3. Our preference is for email contact as this keeps the phone line free and is an efficient way to communicate. Our email address is woolpit.covid19queries@nhs.net
  4. If you need to phone our dedicated vaccine line, the number is 01359 243941.
  5. Finally, we ask you please to be patient, whichever way you contact us we will get back to you. There is no need to leave multiple messages, this only slows down our responses. Be reassured, we have plenty of vaccine and plenty of appointments.

We look forward to another successful vaccination season.