Coronavirus: Vaccination

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, involving hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19. Population immunity to COVID-19 has been increasing due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity following recovery from infection and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.

The focus of the JCVI’s advised programme has therefore moved towards targeted vaccination of the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. These are the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed.

On 13 November 2024, JCVI published advice on who should be offered vaccination in autumn 2025. On 26 June 2025, the Government accepted the JCVI’s advice, and in line with that advice, in autumn 2025, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to the following groups:

• adults aged 75 years old and over;
• residents in care homes for older adults;  and
• individuals aged six months old and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in the ‘immunosuppression’ sections of tables three or four in the COVID-19 chapter of the UK Health Security Agency’s Green Book, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-the-green-book-chapter-14a

The Government has no plans to change eligibility for autumn 2025. It has accepted the JCVI’s advice for this campaign in full. As for all vaccines, the JCVI keeps the evidence under regular review.