Winter vaccines 2026: care homes and staff

COVID-19: who is eligible this autumn

The government accepted the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice for autumn 2026 on 23 March 2026. The eligible groups are:

adults aged 75 and over;
residents in care homes for older adults;
people aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed.

The government says eligibility is unchanged from the spring 2025, autumn 2025 and spring 2026 campaigns, and UKHSA says the same rules apply across all four UK nations.

Frontline health and social care workers are not named in the autumn 2026 COVID-19 cohorts. Staff who are aged 75 or over, or immunosuppressed, are eligible in their own right.

NHS England's London region told vaccination providers that the campaign would start on 1 October, and that volumes for housebound and care home patients were already built into initial vaccine allocations. In practice, residents of care homes for older adults are usually vaccinated on site by a local NHS provider, such as a GP practice or community team, so the main job for managers is coordination and consent.

Younger-adult services: residents of learning disability, mental health or other working-age services are not covered by the "care home for older adults" group. They are eligible only if they are 75 or over or immunosuppressed. Check each person's eligibility with their GP rather than assuming.

Flu: residents and staff

The national flu letter for 2026 to 2027, dated 26 February 2026, kept eligible groups the same as last year. From 1 October 2026, eligible groups include:

people in long-stay residential care homes;
frontline workers in social care settings who do not have an employer-led occupational health scheme. This includes staff of registered residential care and nursing homes and registered domiciliary care providers, voluntary managed hospices, and personal assistants employed through direct payments.

The letter says the majority of vaccinations should be completed by the end of November, and that all care home residents should have been offered a vaccine by then. Vaccines can still be given up to 31 March.

The letter also expects social care workers who work directly with people who are clinically vulnerable to flu to have the vaccine provided by their employer. Staff whose employers have no occupational health scheme can get it through the NHS free of charge.

Why the timing matters

The flu letter keeps the 1 October start for most adults, following JCVI advice on vaccine effectiveness waning over time, so protection is highest across the usual winter peak. For care homes, the end-of-November target for offering residents a flu vaccine is the practical deadline to plan around.

What this means for your service

Check that a date is booked. If no NHS team has arranged COVID-19 and flu sessions for your residents, contact your GP practice or local vaccination provider now.
Get consent sorted early. Confirm each resident's wishes. Where someone lacks capacity, record a best-interests decision under the Mental Capacity Act, involving family or attorneys as appropriate.
Target the end of November for flu. All residents should have been offered a flu vaccine by then.
Tell staff how to get a free flu jab. If you don't run an occupational health scheme, tell eligible staff they can get it free through the NHS, and check local booking routes. Keep a simple, voluntary record of uptake to support your infection prevention planning.
Record vaccinations in care records. This helps with outbreak management and hospital transfers.
Working-age services: don't assume residents are in the COVID-19 cohort. Check individually with the GP.