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<p>The Department is guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and
Immunisation (JCVI) on the approach to the immunisation programmes in England. Details
about the flu vaccination programme for 2023/24, including which groups will be eligible
for a free vaccine and the vaccines that will be reimbursable to National Health Service
providers, were published on 25 May 2023. The groups eligible for a free flu vaccine
for the 2023 to 2024 season include those aged 65 years and over and those aged six
months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups.</p><p>During the COVID-19 pandemic,
eligibility for the influenza programme was temporarily extended to include all adults
aged between 50 and 64 years of age to protect the population from the potential threat
of cocirculation of COVID-19 and influenza and alleviate pressure on the NHS. In the
JCVI’s advice for the 2023/24 programme published in November 2022, it stated that
whilst there would be a health benefit in vaccinating low risk 50–64-year-olds, it
is uncertain whether this would be cost effective and that the overall priority should
be to extend the childhood programme in secondary schools as this would be more cost
effective and likely to have a greater impact on morbidity and mortality compared
with vaccinating 50-64 year olds. An expansion of the flu programme to include secondary
school-aged children was announced on 4 July 2023.</p>
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