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Flu and covid update

NHS England have asked General Practices to prioritise flu vaccinations for pregnant women and children during September 2025, with all other eligible cohorts being vaccinated from October 2025 onwards.

We will therefore be sending out a URL link invite to all patients who fall into the first cohort for flu, please ensure you click on the drop down to see more available appointments.

Flu invites will also be sent to all other eligible cohorts to book from October and where possible, if you are also eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine, we will be looking to administer this at the same time, subject to consent (this will be dependent on confirmed delivery date for the Covid-19 vaccine, as this has not yet been confirmed).

Eligibility

From 1 September 2025:

  • pregnant women
  • all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2025
  • primary school aged children (from Reception to Year 6) – to be vaccinated by school nursing team
  • secondary school aged children (from Year 7 to Year 11) – to be vaccinated by school nursing team
  • all children in clinical risk groups aged from 6 months to less than 18 years – to be vaccinated by school nursing team if attends school in year groups Reception to Year 11, alternatively the surgery can also vaccinate

From October 2025

  • Those aged 65 years and over
  • those aged 18 years to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book, Influenza Chapter 19)
  • those in long-stay residential care homes
  • carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
  • close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
  • Frontline workers in a social care setting without an employer led occupational health scheme including those working for a registered residential care or nursing home, registered domiciliary care providers, voluntary managed hospice providers and those that are employed by those who receive direct payments (personal budgets) or Personal Health budgets, such as Personal Assistants

Main flu clinic – Saturday 11th October 2025 8.00am-1.30pm for pre-booked appointments at branch sites Chesterfield Drive and Norwich Road.

Clinic is for pre-booked appointments for the over 65s, the 18-64 at risk cohort and pregnant patients.

Although this is one of our busiest days of the year, the queues do go quickly, so please be patient and do not worry if your time has passed, as we will still see you as long as you arrive before 1.30pm.

Note that if you have been started on Antibiotics when your flu vaccination is due, you will not be able to have your flu vaccine, so please make sure you contact the practice to rearrange your appointment.

In the event you are poorly on the day of the main flu clinic and therefore unable to attend, please send an email to cardinal.medicalpractice@nhs.net, whereby someone will cancel your appointment and arrange to rebook once you are feeling fit and well.

SMS invites and URL bookable links

Eligible patients with a mobile number, will be sent an URL link that is valid for 14 days. To ensure the system can cope with the demand, the invites will be sent out staggered, so please do not be concerned if you have not received an invite just yet.

The link will allow you to click on a drop down to show more clinic dates, please ensure you make a note of the time/date and location, as we also have clinics running from both branch sites Chesterfield Drive and Norwich Road.

If for any reason your link has expired, or you have not been able to find a date/time you can attend, then you can call the surgery and press option 5 on the phones whereby you will go through to a voice message service where you can leave your name, date of birth and contact number and a member of our team will call you back.

Where possible we call back the same day, if not will be the next working day. Alternatively you can also send a request via AskMyGP (whilst the system is open) and a member of our team will make contact either same day or next working day to book you an appointment.

Declining flu and or covid

If you wish to decline your flu vaccine, to prevent us contacting you again, please either click on the link to contact us via AskMyGP (whilst the system is open) or call 01473 741349 and leave a message by pressing option 5 and leaving your details, so we can update your record accordingly. Even if you have declined in previous years, we are still required to ask, in the event someone has changed their mind, which is within their gift to do.

Note if you are calling the practice and wish to leave a message on our Flu and Covid line, after the initial welcome message you can press option 5 without waiting in the queue.

Mobile numbers

For patients who do not have a mobile number on their record, a member of our team will be making contact to invite you in accordingly. For anyone who has changed their mobile, or knows that there is no number on their record, you can update your AskMyGP profile accordingly.

Housebound patients

Like last year, we have outsourced cover for flu vaccinations via the ICB to the Community Trust team, who will arrange for Housebound patients to be contacted from October onwards regarding a visit date. Due to the number of housebound patients on our list, this can take 2-3 months for the Community Trust to be in contact, so please bear with them, they will be in contact when they are due to visit.

Every year we receive an influx of requests during the Flu Season to be recorded as housebound, remember this will only apply if you do NOT leave your home. If you attend the hairdressers, go shopping, visit friends and family, then you will not be classed as housebound and will need to attend the surgery for your vaccinations instead.

Unfortunately we had several instances of failed home visits last year where some of our patients had gone shopping or to the hairdressers. Please help us to manage by coming to the surgery as you will likely be seen quicker in practice than a home visit. We thank you for your understanding at this challenging time.

Covid vaccine

Covid vaccines will only be available from October.

Flu Vaccination – find information about the flu jab, including who should have it, why and when

Covid Vaccination – find information about COVID-19 vaccination, who can get it, and safety and side effects

Note this Autumn, the eligible cohort is restricted to those aged 75 and over (including those who will turn 75 by 31.01.26), patients with a weakened immune system because of a health condition or treatment or live in a care home for older adults.