Immunisations

Seasonal Influenza Vaccine

Flu vaccination is available every year on the NHS to help protect adults and children at risk of flu and its complications.

Flu can be unpleasant, but if you are otherwise healthy it will usually clear up on its own within a week.

However, flu can be more severe in certain people, such as:

anyone aged 50 and over
pregnant women
children and adults with an underlying health condition (such as long-term heart or respiratory disease)
children and adults with weakened immune systems

Anyone in these risk groups is more likely to develop potentially serious complications of flu, such as pneumonia (a lung infection), so it's recommended that they have a flu vaccine every year to protect them.

The injected flu vaccine is offered free on the NHS annually to:

adults over the age of 18 at risk of flu (including everyone aged 50 and over)
pregnant women
children aged 6 months to 2 years at risk of flu

Find out more about who should have the flu jab.

Flu nasal spray vaccination

The flu vaccine is routinely given on the NHS as an annual nasal spray to:

children aged 2 and 3 (on the 31 August 2019)
children in primary school
children aged 2 to 17 years at a particular risk of flu

Read more about the flu nasal spray for children.

Shingles Vaccine

A vaccine to prevent shingles, a common, painful skin disease is available on the NHS to people in their 70s.

The shingles vaccine is given as a single injection into the upper arm. Unlike the flu jab, you'll only need to have the vaccination once and you can have it at any time of the year.

The shingles vaccine is expected to reduce your risk of getting shingles. If you are unlucky enough to go on to have the disease, your symptoms may be milder and the illness shorter.

Shingles can be very painful and uncomfortable. Some people are left with pain lasting for years after the initial rash has healed. And shingles is fatal for around 1 in 1,000 over-70s who develop it.

It's fine to have the shingles vaccine if you've already had shingles. The shingles vaccine works very well in people who have had shingles before and it will boost your immunity against further shingles attacks.

Who can have the shingles vaccination?

You are eligible for the shingles vaccine if you are aged 70 or 78 years old.

In addition, anyone who was previously eligible but missed out on their shingles vaccination remains eligible until their 80th birthday.

You can have the shingles vaccination at any time of year, as soon as you turn 70 or 78.

The shingles vaccine is not available on the NHS to anyone aged 80 or over because it seems to be less effective in this age group.

Find out more about who is eligible for shingles vaccination.