Community Pharmacy Seasonal Vaccination Service (COVID-19 and Flu)
Further information can be found via: Flu Vaccination Service – Community Pharmacy England (cpe.org.uk) and at C-19 & Adult Flu vac: joint 2026/27 service spec published, with fee uplifts from April 2026 – Community Pharmacy England
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Summary:
- New joint service specification for COVID-19 and adult Flu vaccinations published
- Fees for both vaccinations uplifted, but additional fee for housebound patients removed
- Pharmacy owners must use the National Booking Service for COVID-19 vaccinations, but this is still not a requirement for flu
- Registration now a requirement for both services for the 2026/27 vaccination season.
Pharmacy owners can offer both COVID-19 and adult flu vaccinations, or just adult flu.
NHS England has also confirmed in a system letter an increase to service fees: adult flu rises from £9.58 to £10.06, COVID-19 vaccinations are £8.70 per vaccine administered, while the flu vaccination campaign is underway, and £10.06 outside of this. There will no longer be a £10 payment for COVID-19 vaccinations for housebound people.
The following key documents have been published for the 2025/26 Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service.
Please read these documents before providing the service.
- Service Specification – The service specification describes the requirements for provision of the service and it is essential reading for all vaccinators providing the service.
- PGD -The Patient Group Direction (PGD) provides one legal mechanism for administration of flu vaccine under the service.
- National Protocol – This protocol provides another legal mechanism for administration of flu vaccine under the service by appropriately trained person.
National Booking System – Sign up now
To use the system, please complete the NBS flu form.You will receive login details within 10 working days. Learn more
The following key documents have now also been published for the 2026/27 Vaccination season. Please read these documents before providing the service.
- Service Specification – The service specification describes the requirements for provision of the service and it is essential reading for all vaccinators providing the service.
- Annual flu letter for 2026/27 (Awaiting publication) – This document details the key changes, funding, sign up process and deadlines.
Signing up to provide the services, including deadlines:
- Pharmacy owners that want to provide the COVID-19 Vaccination Service from the start of the spring campaign must register between 5th January 2026 to 2nd February 2026 to ensure that they receive supply of COVID-19 vaccines in time for the start of the spring campaign.
- Pharmacy owners can continue to register for the COVID-19 vaccination service after 2nd February 2026, but they are not guaranteed to receive supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine for the start of the spring campaign.
- Pharmacy owners that want to provide only the Adult Flu Vaccination Service will be able to sign up from 1st April 2026 on the MYS portal. Pharmacy owners are encouraged to register to provide adult flu vaccinations by 31st July 2026 to inform local system planning for autumn/winter
- The overall deadline for pharmacy owners to register to provide COVID-19 and/or adult flu vaccinations on MYS is 30th November 2026. If pharmacy owners do not register by this date, they will not be able to deliver either of the vaccinations under the service in 2026/27
- Further details on the registration process can be found on the bottom of this page here.
Please note: For the first time the COVID-19 and adult flu vaccination service specifications have been combined into one document, although contractors can still sign up to deliver adult influenza vaccinations only.
Further information about the 2026/27 Vaccination season can be found on CPE’s dedicated webpage
CPGM Healthcare Ltd (CHL) and GM Healthcare Academy have arranged for training sessions provided by Allied Health.
You can book these sessions via their website:
https://ahtraining.co.uk/product/vaccination-training
Selecting a Point of Care (PoC) system
Community pharmacy vaccination sites must use one of the assured point of care (PoC) systems to record vaccinations for the AW25 COVID-19 and Seasonal Flu vaccination programmes. This provision is now commissioned under a national contract with suppliers, eliminating the need for regional local commissioning.
Successfully awarded PoC providers are undergoing assurance, with five expected to be certified for recording both Flu and COVID-19 vaccinations. Progress can be viewed here: Community pharmacy – NHS England Digital
To support pharmacy teams in supplier selection for the AW Flu and COVID-19 Campaign, a series of webinars took place, where the community pharmacy PoC suppliers provided an overview of their systems. Recordings of each webinar are available to watch on NHS Futures.
