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UKHSA provides update on Nimbus Covid variant spread ... aged 65 to 75 years and those who were previously deemed to be in a clinical risk group. Last month, officials said well over half of eligible patients have yet to come forward in the spring booster campaign. UKHSA said it was continuing to monitor the situation through its surveillance programmes and hospital admissions. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control also said it was cl ... Date: 27-06-2025 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Neurology • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Majority of eligible patients yet to come forward for Spring Covid vaccination Well over half of patients eligible for a Spring Covid vaccination have yet to come forward with just under six weeks left of the campaign. In all, 38.8% of those eligible have had their vaccination, the ... Date: 08-05-2025 Categories: • Covid-19 • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
‘Significant’ changes to childhood vaccination schedule announced ... age once children reached the age of five. Once the changes are in place, the one-year appointment will still offer vaccination for the first MMR dose and meningitis B and pneumococcal booster jabs. From July this year there are also changes to the vaccine schedule given at two, three and four months, after recommendations from the JCVI. The second meningitis B vaccine dose will now be given at ... Date: 01-05-2025 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Multiple Covid jabs may not be enough for immunocompromised, study finds Covid vaccinations may not be enough to protect immunocompromised people from infection even when they have generated antibodies, researchers have found. It will mean regular boosters for the vulnerable groups to reduce the risk of severe infection, the team from Cambridge University concluded. While most immunocompromised individuals have received three or more doses of the C ... Date: 21-02-2025 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Flu hospitalisations rise steeply as vaccination levels lower than required 'to protect NHS' ... s our best defence. ‘Now is the time to get vaccinated if you are eligible.’ Two weeks ago UKHSA urged healthcare professionals to come forward for their flu jab and Covid booster, amid ‘lower than expected’ uptake. In all, 24% of NHS workers had received their flu vaccine at the time, and 14% had received their Covid vaccine. GPs had a slightly higher uptake than other healthcare professionals ... Date: 12-12-2024 Categories: • Gastroenterology and obesity • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Referrals • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Workload
GPs given go-ahead to prescribe antivirals after uptick in cases of flu ... unisation advised a later start to the campaign. There had been some confusion among practices after the omission of GPs and frontline staff eligibility for autumn Covid boosters in the Green Book. For primary school-aged children who can have the vaccine at school or through their GP, national uptake is 30% and for secondary school-aged children it is 17.4% - the highest on record at this tim ... Date: 04-12-2024 Categories: • Elderly care • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Long-term conditions and prescribing • Respiratory
UK purchases 5m doses of bird flu vaccine in case of human spread ... ions already available to us will help us to be ready for a wider range of threats,' she added. Last week, UKHSA urged healthcare professionals to come forward for their winter flu jab and Covid booster, amid ‘lower than expected’ uptake. A version of this article was first published by Pulse's sister title The Pharmacist Date: 04-12-2024 Categories: • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
UKHSA issues alert as most healthcare professionals yet to have flu and Covid jab The UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) is urging healthcare professionals to come forward for their flu jab and Covid booster, amid 'lower than expected' uptake. In all, 24% of NHS workers have received their flu vaccine and 14% have received their Covid vaccine. GPs have a slightly higher uptake than other healthcar ... Date: 29-11-2024 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Respiratory
Covid vaccine eligibility should shrink next year as disease becomes endemic, says JCVI Government advisers have greatly narrowed the groups who they recommend for Covid vaccine eligibility on the NHS next autumn. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said both the spri ... Date: 14-11-2024 Categories: • Respiratory
Confusion over GP and staff eligibility for Covid boosters GP practices in England have been left confused by the omission of GPs and frontline staff eligibility for Autumn Covid boosters in the Green Book. GPs told Pulse that ICB advice on the matter had also been inconsistent and many practices said they had not ordered vaccine for GPs and staff because the Green Book did not in ... Date: 07-10-2024 Categories: • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Flu and Covid vaccination campaign to run from 3 October to 20 December GPs should vaccinate eligible groups against flu and Covid between 3 October and 20 December, NHS England has said in its latest update. NHSE announced in March that the flu vaccination programme would b ... Date: 16-08-2024 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Respiratory • Women's health, gynaecology and obstetrics
GPs and frontline staff eligible for autumn Covid boosters GPs and all other patient-facing practice staff will be encouraged to take up a free Covid-19 booster vaccination through the national programme this autumn. In terms of patients, 'all those aged 65 or over, all those in care homes for older people, and those aged 6 months or over who are in a cli ... Date: 12-08-2024 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Respiratory
Another baby dies from whooping cough as cases surpass 10,000 ... . All babies are also given three doses of the 6-in-1 jab at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age to protect against whooping cough and other serious diseases such as diphtheria and polio, with a pre-school booster offered at 3 years 4 months. UKHSA director of immunisation Dr Mary Ramsay said: 'With cases continuing to rise and, sadly, 10 infant deaths since the outbreak began last November, ensuring women ... Date: 08-08-2024 Categories: • Paediatrics • Respiratory • Women's health, gynaecology and obstetrics
Learn the lesson from vets: we cannot replace GPs ... an healthcare. The BVA states: ‘There is a potential risk to animal health and welfare if the animal does not receive regular health assessments, which may be an unintended consequence of booster vaccinations being prescribed by RVNs.’ Yes, you read that right. It is considered too risky for veterinary nurses to deliver routine annual vaccines, because the animal would forgo the opportunity to be seen ... Date: 29-07-2024 Categories: • Katie Musgrave
UK to switch to non-polio containing pertussis vaccine for pregnant women ... impact on children’s antibodies later on. Studies reviewed by the committee at the end of 2022 showed a lower response to polio vaccination at 13 months as well as before and after the preschool booster in children whose mothers had been vaccinated with DtaP-IPV during pregnancy. Analysis showed antibody levels to polio type 2 were most affected by the maternal vaccination. The committee noted t ... Date: 02-07-2024 Categories: • Paediatrics • Respiratory • Women's health, gynaecology and obstetrics
Ongoing decline in uptake of childhood vaccines, figures suggest ... n England and the wider UK, the UK Health Security Agency said. The proportion of children who have had their first MMR jab by 24 months is now 88.7%. There was also an uptick in the pre-school booster and the second MMR dose to 84.5% and 85.2% respectively but figures remain well below the 95% target set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The figures for England across all vaccines are abo ... Date: 01-07-2024 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
GP practices told to plan for October start for autumn Covid jabs ... utumn 2024 campaign may be smaller than the autumn 2023 campaign’. Last year, residents in care homes, over-65s and those in a clinical risk group were eligible for a Covid-19 booster jab. The national commissioner has also launched a new procurement process for the Covid vaccination service, with contracts running from September 2024 to March 2026 to 'minimise administrative burden' for provi ... Date: 31-05-2024 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
People with MS at risk of severe outcomes from Covid despite being fully vaccinated ... emain at high risk of serious outcomes.’ She added that she hoped the findings would raise awareness that the threat of Covid-19 is still very real for many and that Covid boosters are inadequate to fully protect them. ‘With new variants constantly emerging, people living with MS should be considered an important high-risk group for Covid-19 hospitalisation and death for which additional prev ... Date: 21-05-2024 Categories: • Neurology • Respiratory
AstraZeneca takes ‘commercial decision’ to withdraw Covid vaccine The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is being withdrawn after three billion doses, as demand shifts to newer vaccines that can be more easily updated to target new variants. In a statement AstraZeneca sa ... Date: 10-05-2024 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Uncategorised • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
UKHSA: More preventable diseases will re-emerge without vaccination uptake boost ... 8% and MMR, combined haemophilus influenzae type b and meningitis C, pneumococcal and meningitis B vaccine are all between 87% and 88% the figures show. Small increases were seen in the pre-school booster and MMR for children aged five years but at 85% both are far under the target needed for herd immunity. With the exception of rotavirus vaccination, figures were a bit higher for vaccinations in c ... Date: 02-04-2024 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
BMA calls for measles enhanced service to cover extra GP work ... r 2023 to 465. On Covid vaccinations, the GPCE has also announced that NHS England agreed to an additional £2.50 payment per vaccination for the spring booster campaign. This followed negotiation between NHSE and the committee, and will be paid on top of the £7.54 Item of Service (IoS) fee. Last week, the Government accepted the JCVI’s advice to vaccinate a larger number of children who ar ... Date: 13-02-2024 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Workload
JCVI sets out who is eligible for Covid Spring booster jab This year’s spring Covid vaccine booster programme will include a larger number of children who are immunosuppressed, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has confirmed. The advice for the upcoming campaign is similar ... Date: 08-02-2024 Categories: • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Covid undervaccination led to thousands of deaths in UK ... first of its kind - is a ‘remarkable achievement’. The UK Health Security Agency recently found that there is a continued need for Covid boosters since protection wanes after six months. Swedish researchers concluded last month that having at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine before a first infection is strongly linked to a lower risk of developing long Covid. In its long-awaited natio ... Date: 16-01-2024 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Health authorities alert GPs to measles and whooping cough outbreaks ... les' throughout his career until two weeks ago - he has 'seen multiple every day since'. 'Not a single one in a child who had their MMR (even just first dose if not old enough for their preschool booster yet),' he added. Birmingham and Solihull ICB has warned in public communications that cases are rising in the West Midlands and urged people to get two doses of the MMR vaccine. In Essex, GPs ... Date: 05-01-2024 Categories: • Breaking news • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Covid boosters needed as vaccine protection wanes after six months, finds UKHSA There is a continued need for Covid boosters, according to a Government study, which found they provide significant protection against death but this wanes after six months. Researchers from the UK Health Security Agency analysed data on mo ... Date: 02-01-2024 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Covid and flu hospital admissions twice as high in deprived areas, UKHSA warns ... rates’. Differences in vaccine uptake is one factor that has been shown to drive inequalities in health outcomes with disparities since the start of the Covid-19 vaccine campaign persisting as boosters have been offered, the report concluded. Influenza vaccination in those who are eligible is also consistently lower in the most deprived areas with last year’s figures also showing wide variation in ... Date: 08-12-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory
GPC to discourage practices to sign up to vaccination programmes at reduced fees England LMCs have voted in favour of a motion proposing a series of improvements to vaccination fee rates, in light of this year's confused rollout of the Covid booster programme. It instructed GPC to negotiate with NHS England 'to ensure that IOS payments for Covid for future years are increased to at least 2022/2023 levels'. GPs are being paid £7.54 for each ... Date: 23-11-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Practice and personal finance • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Limiting Covid boosters to the over-80s would be more cost-effective Limiting autumn Covid boosters to the over-80s, and high-risk over-45s, would have been the most cost-effective option, according to a Government impact assessment. But the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI ... Date: 10-10-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Patients urged to come forward for flu jabs amid concerns for severe illness ... vaccination programme prevented around 25,000 hospitalisations in England, according to data presented by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Eligible groups also encouraged to book their Covid booster 'to give themselves full winter protection'. Recently published modelling from UKHSA sought to ascertain the number of hospitalisations prevented as a result of the flu vaccination programme in th ... Date: 02-10-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Workload
New Covid variant Pirola 'no more likely' to evade antibodies ... A.2.86 is the most concerning since Omicron first emerged. Given these concerns, NHSE also urged GPs and midwives to make sure pregnant women know they are eligible for booster vaccinations this autumn. Last week, the BMA’s GP Committee in England called for an investigation into the Government and NHS England’s ‘mismanagement’ of this year’s vaccination programme. Date: 27-09-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
GPs asked to encourage pregnant women to take up Covid jab offer GPs and midwives are being urged to make sure pregnant women know they are eligible for booster vaccinations this autumn amidst concerns over the latest Covid variant. Meanwhile, NHS England hailed GP teams for vaccinating 4,616 care homes (over a quarter) so far, while a total of 1.16 milli ... Date: 26-09-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Women's health, gynaecology and obstetrics
GP practices and vaccination hubs ‘rallying’ for staff after start date change GP practices and vaccination hubs have been left to ‘rally’ around to secure staff to deliver the Covid and flu vaccination programmes which began yesterday for some eligible groups. Last-minute changes ... Date: 12-09-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Workforce
GPs to be paid additional £5 for each Covid vaccination delivered The start of the autumn Covid vaccination programme in England has been brought forward due to concerns over a new variant, and GPs will receive additional payments for each dose delivered. At the beginn ... Date: 30-08-2023 Categories: • Breaking news • Covid-19 • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Last-minute cut to Covid jab fee in Wales ... P practices in Wales opted out of delivering Covid vaccinations because of logistical difficulties such as being unable to co-administer the booster with flu vaccinations, the use of a different system for booking booster and flu appointments, as well as a short deadline to start giving boosters. This year, practices can co-administer Covid and flu jabs and use their own clinical systems for schedulin ... Date: 30-08-2023 Categories: • Practice and personal finance • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Manufacturers 'free to negotiate deals for private Covid vaccinations' ... cine Unit at UKHSA, said: ‘The Covid-19 vaccination programme continues to target those at higher risk of serious illness in line with JCVI advice, as those groups are most likely to benefit from booster vaccination at this time. ‘The Covid-19 vaccine is not currently available to buy privately in the UK but there is no blanket restriction on private sales of licensed vaccines. UKHSA will continue to ... Date: 21-08-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory
GP practices will receive payment for flu jabs given prior to October campaign launch GP practices will be paid for flu jabs administered in September despite the change of timing to the adult flu and Covid vaccination programmes, a letter from NHS England has said. In a letter posted ye ... Date: 11-08-2023 Categories: • Practice and personal finance • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
JCVI recommends autumn Covid booster for over-65s and clinically vulnerable Residents in care homes, over-65s and those in a clinical risk group will be eligible for a Covid-19 booster jab this autumn. This is an amendment to last year's autumn campaign, when everyone over the age of 50 was eligible for a booster. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has ... Date: 08-08-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
25% cut to Covid vaccine IoS 'threat to patient safety', BMA warns The Government has decided to cut the fee GPs are paid per Covid vaccination by a quarter, prompting BMA to issue a patient safety warning. NHS England has published the new enhanced service specificatio ... Date: 07-08-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
GP leaders resisting moves to further reduce Covid vaccination fee ... they were still able to fulful the ES commitments. NHS England’s guidance at the time stressed that only GP practices with ‘sufficient workforce capacity’ should opt in to give Covid boosters ‘so as not to impact the delivery of essential services’. The commissioner is working on aligning payments for flu and Covid vaccinations paid to GP practices but will not achieve this goal before 2025/26 at t ... Date: 25-07-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Practice and personal finance • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Central flu vaccine procurement will reduce GP income, warns BMA ... temporary expansion during the pandemic. Last summer, Pulse reported that some Welsh GP practices would not be delivering Covid boosters in the autumn because they were not able to co-administer the booster with flu vaccinations. Date: 10-07-2023 Categories: • Practice and personal finance • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Wales
Don't we deserve to feel good about what we do? ... harder and longer takes the joy out of being a doctor The sun was out, the birds were singing, and the trees were in blossom. It was a Saturday morning full of promise; I was in my practice spring booster Covid vaccination clinic. I drew up the next dose and dug deep for inspiration. The cattle market of side-effect explanations and injections really drains enthusiasm. Turning, I saw an elderly man sh ... Date: 27-06-2023 Categories: • Zoe Rog
Flu vaccine uptake drops off after two bumper years ... n 6 percentage points down on last year, NHS England has reported. Figures published earlier this year showed almost two-thirds of frontline health workers in GP practices have had a flu and Covid booster vaccine this winter, with 64.1% of patient-facing GP staff having had a seasonal flu jab. Health officials had urged people to take up the offer of flu vaccinations amidst worries of a ‘twindemic’ ... Date: 09-06-2023 Categories: • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Low-risk patients aged 50-64 not eligible for free flu vaccine this year ... ceive sufficient stock. Providers should remain flexible when scheduling vaccination sessions and be prepared to reschedule if necessary’, it added. As well as Covid-19 boosters, GPs are also being encouraged to align their flu vaccination programme with vaccines a patient may be eligible for including shingles, pertussis, or pneumococcal vaccines, ‘where it is clinically acceptable, operationally fea ... Date: 25-05-2023 Categories: • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Fall in adolescent vaccines uptake puts young people at risk, warns UKHSA ... chool immunisation team or GP surgery to book an appointment.’ Steve Russell, NHS England’s national director for vaccination and screening, said: ‘The 3-in-1 teenage booster and the MenACWY vaccination are extremely well-researched and proven to provide protection against a range of diseases that can cause serious illness. ‘NHS School Aged Immunisation Services offer these vaccinations i ... Date: 24-04-2023 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Vaccine delivery workload 'fell purely onto GPs', says UKHSA director ... vice (IoS) fee for each vaccine administered – down from £12.58, GPs leaders expressed concerns about the workload and financial implications of the Covid booster programme. Dr Ramsay added: ‘The lesson from Covid is that strong national coordination and a national vertical programme can deliver but obviously you have to be able to have local delivery as well and locally tailored delivery – I think a ... Date: 18-04-2023 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
GP systems do include exception reporting for child vaccinations, NHS England clarifies NHS England has clarified that GP systems do include codes to exception report in specific circumstances for childhood immunisations QOF indicators, despite the contract stating otherwise. Concessions to ... Date: 14-04-2023 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
At-risk children aged 6 months to 4 years now eligible for Covid vaccine ... ay so I would encourage all parents to bring their child forward if they are eligible. Parents should wait to be contacted by their local health professionals.’ The Spring Covid-19 booster programme also starts this month with care home residents being offered the vaccine first. It is also the last chance for anyone to get a first or second Covid vaccine dose with the offer being removed in June th ... Date: 06-04-2023 Categories: • Breaking news • Paediatrics • Respiratory
NHS to end routine asymptomatic Covid-19 testing of patients and staff All PCR Covid testing outside NHS settings has ended as of this month, alongside routine asymptomatic testing of patients and staff across all parts of health and social care. The UK Health Security Agen ... Date: 04-04-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory
London polio vaccine catch-up campaign to be launched despite transmission drop ... But World Health Organization requires evidence of 12 months of zero detections before the UK is no longer considered to be a polio ‘infected’ country, UKHSA said. It follows an urgent polio booster campaign launched last summer after virus was detected in several sewage samples. Further sampling found that the virus had continued to spread in the community and evolved into a vaccine-derived poliovi ... Date: 23-03-2023 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening
Best Laid Plans 2021/22: Sajid Javid's punitive measures ... inspections across health services would be cancelled until January 2022 after ‘alarming’ new data on the Omicron variant and GPs were asked to prioritise Covid boosters over routine appointments. This included the access-focused inspections. Pulse later reported that the CQC had carried out 40 of the access inspections in November and December before pausing them. At a CQC board meeting on 19 Janu ... Date: 10-03-2023 Categories: • Best Laid Plans

UKHSA provides update on Nimbus Covid variant spread ... aged 65 to 75 years and those who were previously deemed to be in a clinical risk group. Last month, officials said well over half of eligible patients have yet to come forward in the spring booster campaign. UKHSA said it was continuing to monitor the situation through its surveillance programmes and hospital admissions. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control also said it was cl ... Date: 27-06-2025 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Neurology • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Majority of eligible patients yet to come forward for Spring Covid vaccination Well over half of patients eligible for a Spring Covid vaccination have yet to come forward with just under six weeks left of the campaign. In all, 38.8% of those eligible have had their vaccination, the ... Date: 08-05-2025 Categories: • Covid-19 • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

‘Significant’ changes to childhood vaccination schedule announced ... age once children reached the age of five. Once the changes are in place, the one-year appointment will still offer vaccination for the first MMR dose and meningitis B and pneumococcal booster jabs. From July this year there are also changes to the vaccine schedule given at two, three and four months, after recommendations from the JCVI. The second meningitis B vaccine dose will now be given at ... Date: 01-05-2025 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Multiple Covid jabs may not be enough for immunocompromised, study finds Covid vaccinations may not be enough to protect immunocompromised people from infection even when they have generated antibodies, researchers have found. It will mean regular boosters for the vulnerable groups to reduce the risk of severe infection, the team from Cambridge University concluded. While most immunocompromised individuals have received three or more doses of the C ... Date: 21-02-2025 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Flu hospitalisations rise steeply as vaccination levels lower than required 'to protect NHS' ... s our best defence. ‘Now is the time to get vaccinated if you are eligible.’ Two weeks ago UKHSA urged healthcare professionals to come forward for their flu jab and Covid booster, amid ‘lower than expected’ uptake. In all, 24% of NHS workers had received their flu vaccine at the time, and 14% had received their Covid vaccine. GPs had a slightly higher uptake than other healthcare professionals ... Date: 12-12-2024 Categories: • Gastroenterology and obesity • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Referrals • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Workload

GPs given go-ahead to prescribe antivirals after uptick in cases of flu ... unisation advised a later start to the campaign. There had been some confusion among practices after the omission of GPs and frontline staff eligibility for autumn Covid boosters in the Green Book. For primary school-aged children who can have the vaccine at school or through their GP, national uptake is 30% and for secondary school-aged children it is 17.4% - the highest on record at this tim ... Date: 04-12-2024 Categories: • Elderly care • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Long-term conditions and prescribing • Respiratory

UK purchases 5m doses of bird flu vaccine in case of human spread ... ions already available to us will help us to be ready for a wider range of threats,' she added. Last week, UKHSA urged healthcare professionals to come forward for their winter flu jab and Covid booster, amid ‘lower than expected’ uptake. A version of this article was first published by Pulse's sister title The Pharmacist Date: 04-12-2024 Categories: • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

UKHSA issues alert as most healthcare professionals yet to have flu and Covid jab The UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) is urging healthcare professionals to come forward for their flu jab and Covid booster, amid 'lower than expected' uptake. In all, 24% of NHS workers have received their flu vaccine and 14% have received their Covid vaccine. GPs have a slightly higher uptake than other healthcar ... Date: 29-11-2024 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Respiratory

Covid vaccine eligibility should shrink next year as disease becomes endemic, says JCVI Government advisers have greatly narrowed the groups who they recommend for Covid vaccine eligibility on the NHS next autumn. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said both the spri ... Date: 14-11-2024 Categories: • Respiratory

Confusion over GP and staff eligibility for Covid boosters GP practices in England have been left confused by the omission of GPs and frontline staff eligibility for Autumn Covid boosters in the Green Book. GPs told Pulse that ICB advice on the matter had also been inconsistent and many practices said they had not ordered vaccine for GPs and staff because the Green Book did not in ... Date: 07-10-2024 Categories: • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Flu and Covid vaccination campaign to run from 3 October to 20 December GPs should vaccinate eligible groups against flu and Covid between 3 October and 20 December, NHS England has said in its latest update. NHSE announced in March that the flu vaccination programme would b ... Date: 16-08-2024 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Respiratory • Women's health, gynaecology and obstetrics

GPs and frontline staff eligible for autumn Covid boosters GPs and all other patient-facing practice staff will be encouraged to take up a free Covid-19 booster vaccination through the national programme this autumn. In terms of patients, 'all those aged 65 or over, all those in care homes for older people, and those aged 6 months or over who are in a cli ... Date: 12-08-2024 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Respiratory

Another baby dies from whooping cough as cases surpass 10,000 ... . All babies are also given three doses of the 6-in-1 jab at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age to protect against whooping cough and other serious diseases such as diphtheria and polio, with a pre-school booster offered at 3 years 4 months. UKHSA director of immunisation Dr Mary Ramsay said: 'With cases continuing to rise and, sadly, 10 infant deaths since the outbreak began last November, ensuring women ... Date: 08-08-2024 Categories: • Paediatrics • Respiratory • Women's health, gynaecology and obstetrics

Learn the lesson from vets: we cannot replace GPs ... an healthcare. The BVA states: ‘There is a potential risk to animal health and welfare if the animal does not receive regular health assessments, which may be an unintended consequence of booster vaccinations being prescribed by RVNs.’ Yes, you read that right. It is considered too risky for veterinary nurses to deliver routine annual vaccines, because the animal would forgo the opportunity to be seen ... Date: 29-07-2024 Categories: • Katie Musgrave

UK to switch to non-polio containing pertussis vaccine for pregnant women ... impact on children’s antibodies later on. Studies reviewed by the committee at the end of 2022 showed a lower response to polio vaccination at 13 months as well as before and after the preschool booster in children whose mothers had been vaccinated with DtaP-IPV during pregnancy. Analysis showed antibody levels to polio type 2 were most affected by the maternal vaccination. The committee noted t ... Date: 02-07-2024 Categories: • Paediatrics • Respiratory • Women's health, gynaecology and obstetrics

Ongoing decline in uptake of childhood vaccines, figures suggest ... n England and the wider UK, the UK Health Security Agency said. The proportion of children who have had their first MMR jab by 24 months is now 88.7%. There was also an uptick in the pre-school booster and the second MMR dose to 84.5% and 85.2% respectively but figures remain well below the 95% target set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The figures for England across all vaccines are abo ... Date: 01-07-2024 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

GP practices told to plan for October start for autumn Covid jabs ... utumn 2024 campaign may be smaller than the autumn 2023 campaign’. Last year, residents in care homes, over-65s and those in a clinical risk group were eligible for a Covid-19 booster jab. The national commissioner has also launched a new procurement process for the Covid vaccination service, with contracts running from September 2024 to March 2026 to 'minimise administrative burden' for provi ... Date: 31-05-2024 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

People with MS at risk of severe outcomes from Covid despite being fully vaccinated ... emain at high risk of serious outcomes.’ She added that she hoped the findings would raise awareness that the threat of Covid-19 is still very real for many and that Covid boosters are inadequate to fully protect them. ‘With new variants constantly emerging, people living with MS should be considered an important high-risk group for Covid-19 hospitalisation and death for which additional prev ... Date: 21-05-2024 Categories: • Neurology • Respiratory

AstraZeneca takes ‘commercial decision’ to withdraw Covid vaccine The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is being withdrawn after three billion doses, as demand shifts to newer vaccines that can be more easily updated to target new variants. In a statement AstraZeneca sa ... Date: 10-05-2024 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Uncategorised • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

UKHSA: More preventable diseases will re-emerge without vaccination uptake boost ... 8% and MMR, combined haemophilus influenzae type b and meningitis C, pneumococcal and meningitis B vaccine are all between 87% and 88% the figures show. Small increases were seen in the pre-school booster and MMR for children aged five years but at 85% both are far under the target needed for herd immunity. With the exception of rotavirus vaccination, figures were a bit higher for vaccinations in c ... Date: 02-04-2024 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

BMA calls for measles enhanced service to cover extra GP work ... r 2023 to 465. On Covid vaccinations, the GPCE has also announced that NHS England agreed to an additional £2.50 payment per vaccination for the spring booster campaign. This followed negotiation between NHSE and the committee, and will be paid on top of the £7.54 Item of Service (IoS) fee. Last week, the Government accepted the JCVI’s advice to vaccinate a larger number of children who ar ... Date: 13-02-2024 Categories: • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Workload

JCVI sets out who is eligible for Covid Spring booster jab This year’s spring Covid vaccine booster programme will include a larger number of children who are immunosuppressed, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has confirmed. The advice for the upcoming campaign is similar ... Date: 08-02-2024 Categories: • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Covid undervaccination led to thousands of deaths in UK ... first of its kind - is a ‘remarkable achievement’. The UK Health Security Agency recently found that there is a continued need for Covid boosters since protection wanes after six months. Swedish researchers concluded last month that having at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine before a first infection is strongly linked to a lower risk of developing long Covid. In its long-awaited natio ... Date: 16-01-2024 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Health authorities alert GPs to measles and whooping cough outbreaks ... les' throughout his career until two weeks ago - he has 'seen multiple every day since'. 'Not a single one in a child who had their MMR (even just first dose if not old enough for their preschool booster yet),' he added. Birmingham and Solihull ICB has warned in public communications that cases are rising in the West Midlands and urged people to get two doses of the MMR vaccine. In Essex, GPs ... Date: 05-01-2024 Categories: • Breaking news • Infectious diseases, immunology and allergy • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Covid boosters needed as vaccine protection wanes after six months, finds UKHSA There is a continued need for Covid boosters, according to a Government study, which found they provide significant protection against death but this wanes after six months. Researchers from the UK Health Security Agency analysed data on mo ... Date: 02-01-2024 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Covid and flu hospital admissions twice as high in deprived areas, UKHSA warns ... rates’. Differences in vaccine uptake is one factor that has been shown to drive inequalities in health outcomes with disparities since the start of the Covid-19 vaccine campaign persisting as boosters have been offered, the report concluded. Influenza vaccination in those who are eligible is also consistently lower in the most deprived areas with last year’s figures also showing wide variation in ... Date: 08-12-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory

GPC to discourage practices to sign up to vaccination programmes at reduced fees England LMCs have voted in favour of a motion proposing a series of improvements to vaccination fee rates, in light of this year's confused rollout of the Covid booster programme. It instructed GPC to negotiate with NHS England 'to ensure that IOS payments for Covid for future years are increased to at least 2022/2023 levels'. GPs are being paid £7.54 for each ... Date: 23-11-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Practice and personal finance • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Limiting Covid boosters to the over-80s would be more cost-effective Limiting autumn Covid boosters to the over-80s, and high-risk over-45s, would have been the most cost-effective option, according to a Government impact assessment. But the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI ... Date: 10-10-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Patients urged to come forward for flu jabs amid concerns for severe illness ... vaccination programme prevented around 25,000 hospitalisations in England, according to data presented by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Eligible groups also encouraged to book their Covid booster 'to give themselves full winter protection'. Recently published modelling from UKHSA sought to ascertain the number of hospitalisations prevented as a result of the flu vaccination programme in th ... Date: 02-10-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Workload

New Covid variant Pirola 'no more likely' to evade antibodies ... A.2.86 is the most concerning since Omicron first emerged. Given these concerns, NHSE also urged GPs and midwives to make sure pregnant women know they are eligible for booster vaccinations this autumn. Last week, the BMA’s GP Committee in England called for an investigation into the Government and NHS England’s ‘mismanagement’ of this year’s vaccination programme. Date: 27-09-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

GPs asked to encourage pregnant women to take up Covid jab offer GPs and midwives are being urged to make sure pregnant women know they are eligible for booster vaccinations this autumn amidst concerns over the latest Covid variant. Meanwhile, NHS England hailed GP teams for vaccinating 4,616 care homes (over a quarter) so far, while a total of 1.16 milli ... Date: 26-09-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Women's health, gynaecology and obstetrics

GP practices and vaccination hubs ‘rallying’ for staff after start date change GP practices and vaccination hubs have been left to ‘rally’ around to secure staff to deliver the Covid and flu vaccination programmes which began yesterday for some eligible groups. Last-minute changes ... Date: 12-09-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Workforce

GPs to be paid additional £5 for each Covid vaccination delivered The start of the autumn Covid vaccination programme in England has been brought forward due to concerns over a new variant, and GPs will receive additional payments for each dose delivered. At the beginn ... Date: 30-08-2023 Categories: • Breaking news • Covid-19 • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Last-minute cut to Covid jab fee in Wales ... P practices in Wales opted out of delivering Covid vaccinations because of logistical difficulties such as being unable to co-administer the booster with flu vaccinations, the use of a different system for booking booster and flu appointments, as well as a short deadline to start giving boosters. This year, practices can co-administer Covid and flu jabs and use their own clinical systems for schedulin ... Date: 30-08-2023 Categories: • Practice and personal finance • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Manufacturers 'free to negotiate deals for private Covid vaccinations' ... cine Unit at UKHSA, said: ‘The Covid-19 vaccination programme continues to target those at higher risk of serious illness in line with JCVI advice, as those groups are most likely to benefit from booster vaccination at this time. ‘The Covid-19 vaccine is not currently available to buy privately in the UK but there is no blanket restriction on private sales of licensed vaccines. UKHSA will continue to ... Date: 21-08-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory

GP practices will receive payment for flu jabs given prior to October campaign launch GP practices will be paid for flu jabs administered in September despite the change of timing to the adult flu and Covid vaccination programmes, a letter from NHS England has said. In a letter posted ye ... Date: 11-08-2023 Categories: • Practice and personal finance • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

JCVI recommends autumn Covid booster for over-65s and clinically vulnerable Residents in care homes, over-65s and those in a clinical risk group will be eligible for a Covid-19 booster jab this autumn. This is an amendment to last year's autumn campaign, when everyone over the age of 50 was eligible for a booster. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has ... Date: 08-08-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

25% cut to Covid vaccine IoS 'threat to patient safety', BMA warns The Government has decided to cut the fee GPs are paid per Covid vaccination by a quarter, prompting BMA to issue a patient safety warning. NHS England has published the new enhanced service specificatio ... Date: 07-08-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

GP leaders resisting moves to further reduce Covid vaccination fee ... they were still able to fulful the ES commitments. NHS England’s guidance at the time stressed that only GP practices with ‘sufficient workforce capacity’ should opt in to give Covid boosters ‘so as not to impact the delivery of essential services’. The commissioner is working on aligning payments for flu and Covid vaccinations paid to GP practices but will not achieve this goal before 2025/26 at t ... Date: 25-07-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Practice and personal finance • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Central flu vaccine procurement will reduce GP income, warns BMA ... temporary expansion during the pandemic. Last summer, Pulse reported that some Welsh GP practices would not be delivering Covid boosters in the autumn because they were not able to co-administer the booster with flu vaccinations. Date: 10-07-2023 Categories: • Practice and personal finance • Vaccinations, prevention and screening • Wales

Don't we deserve to feel good about what we do? ... harder and longer takes the joy out of being a doctor The sun was out, the birds were singing, and the trees were in blossom. It was a Saturday morning full of promise; I was in my practice spring booster Covid vaccination clinic. I drew up the next dose and dug deep for inspiration. The cattle market of side-effect explanations and injections really drains enthusiasm. Turning, I saw an elderly man sh ... Date: 27-06-2023 Categories: • Zoe Rog

Flu vaccine uptake drops off after two bumper years ... n 6 percentage points down on last year, NHS England has reported. Figures published earlier this year showed almost two-thirds of frontline health workers in GP practices have had a flu and Covid booster vaccine this winter, with 64.1% of patient-facing GP staff having had a seasonal flu jab. Health officials had urged people to take up the offer of flu vaccinations amidst worries of a ‘twindemic’ ... Date: 09-06-2023 Categories: • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Low-risk patients aged 50-64 not eligible for free flu vaccine this year ... ceive sufficient stock. Providers should remain flexible when scheduling vaccination sessions and be prepared to reschedule if necessary’, it added. As well as Covid-19 boosters, GPs are also being encouraged to align their flu vaccination programme with vaccines a patient may be eligible for including shingles, pertussis, or pneumococcal vaccines, ‘where it is clinically acceptable, operationally fea ... Date: 25-05-2023 Categories: • Respiratory • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Fall in adolescent vaccines uptake puts young people at risk, warns UKHSA ... chool immunisation team or GP surgery to book an appointment.’ Steve Russell, NHS England’s national director for vaccination and screening, said: ‘The 3-in-1 teenage booster and the MenACWY vaccination are extremely well-researched and proven to provide protection against a range of diseases that can cause serious illness. ‘NHS School Aged Immunisation Services offer these vaccinations i ... Date: 24-04-2023 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Vaccine delivery workload 'fell purely onto GPs', says UKHSA director ... vice (IoS) fee for each vaccine administered – down from £12.58, GPs leaders expressed concerns about the workload and financial implications of the Covid booster programme. Dr Ramsay added: ‘The lesson from Covid is that strong national coordination and a national vertical programme can deliver but obviously you have to be able to have local delivery as well and locally tailored delivery – I think a ... Date: 18-04-2023 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

GP systems do include exception reporting for child vaccinations, NHS England clarifies NHS England has clarified that GP systems do include codes to exception report in specific circumstances for childhood immunisations QOF indicators, despite the contract stating otherwise. Concessions to ... Date: 14-04-2023 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

At-risk children aged 6 months to 4 years now eligible for Covid vaccine ... ay so I would encourage all parents to bring their child forward if they are eligible. Parents should wait to be contacted by their local health professionals.’ The Spring Covid-19 booster programme also starts this month with care home residents being offered the vaccine first. It is also the last chance for anyone to get a first or second Covid vaccine dose with the offer being removed in June th ... Date: 06-04-2023 Categories: • Breaking news • Paediatrics • Respiratory

NHS to end routine asymptomatic Covid-19 testing of patients and staff All PCR Covid testing outside NHS settings has ended as of this month, alongside routine asymptomatic testing of patients and staff across all parts of health and social care. The UK Health Security Agen ... Date: 04-04-2023 Categories: • Covid-19 • Respiratory

London polio vaccine catch-up campaign to be launched despite transmission drop ... But World Health Organization requires evidence of 12 months of zero detections before the UK is no longer considered to be a polio ‘infected’ country, UKHSA said. It follows an urgent polio booster campaign launched last summer after virus was detected in several sewage samples. Further sampling found that the virus had continued to spread in the community and evolved into a vaccine-derived poliovi ... Date: 23-03-2023 Categories: • Paediatrics • Vaccinations, prevention and screening

Best Laid Plans 2021/22: Sajid Javid's punitive measures ... inspections across health services would be cancelled until January 2022 after ‘alarming’ new data on the Omicron variant and GPs were asked to prioritise Covid boosters over routine appointments. This included the access-focused inspections. Pulse later reported that the CQC had carried out 40 of the access inspections in November and December before pausing them. At a CQC board meeting on 19 Janu ... Date: 10-03-2023 Categories: • Best Laid Plans

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