Flu and COVID-19 vaccines kick off for all eligible people from today to help ‘winter-proof’ those most vulnerable and the NHS amid new variants circulating this year.   Vaccination teams across England are working to protect millions most at risk of getting seriously ill this winter by building immunity ahead of December and January, when hospitalisations for respiratory […]

Parents will be able to get their two and three year olds vaccinated against flu at local pharmacies for the first time ever this autumn. Around 4,000 pharmacies have signed up to deliver the vaccine to the 1.2 million eligible toddlers from next week, making it easier than ever for busy parents to protect their […]

The NHS is running ‘stress test’ exercises and providing targeted care for vulnerable patients, as it strengthens its plans to winter-proof the health service. Throughout September, local NHS leaders will test the robustness of their winter plans by participating in scenario exercises such as staff shortages, rapid increase in demand, and multiple virus outbreaks. Local […]

Millions of children and pregnant women are set to get their flu vaccinations from today, as the NHS kicks off its vital autumn vaccine roll out to protect people ahead of winter. Vaccine teams across the country are ramping up efforts to make it as easy as possible for those eligible to get their jabs, […]

The NHS’s top midwife is urging newly eligible pregnant mothers that “now is the time to act” and get the RSV vaccine to protect their baby ahead of this winter. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of infant mortality around the world and a main cause of child hospitalisations every year – with […]

Thousands of premature babies at risk of life-threatening infection can now be protected against the common respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) this winter, with a single long-lasting injection available on the NHS for the first time. The NHS in England is rolling out drug nirsevimab from late September to provide protection against RSV to around 7,000 […]

The number of hospital beds taken up by seasonal viruses this winter was more than the equivalent of the population of Malta, according to new NHS data. Almost 600,000 beds were taken up by patients with COVID, flu, RSV or norovirus this winter (594,937 from 25 November 2024 – 30 March 2025), as NHS services […]

Searches for NHS advice on norovirus topped one million this winter as NHS staff managed a quad-demic of viruses, according to new NHS data. There have been 1,021,436 visits to the norovirus advice in the past 16 weeks (2 December to 23 March) – making it the most visited condition on the NHS website this […]

The worst of the winter pressures are over for the NHS according to England’s top doctor, after norovirus cases in hospitals dropped for the 4th week in a row. In the week ending 16 March, there were 899 hospital patients with norovirus – down from the winter peak of 1,160 seen in mid-February. Cases remain […]

Norovirus is continuing to pile pressure on NHS hospitals with over 40,000 bed days lost to the vomiting bug in February alone. The latest data shows there were 1,094 patients a day in hospital with norovirus last week, down slightly on the week before (1,134) but more than double the number of patients compared to […]