Dear Member,

For this years flu season 2020/21 there are several flu vaccinations available and it is important you use the appropriate vaccination for patients. 

We are currently receiving a lot of queries with regards to which flu vaccination patients should be administered due to poor stock availability. 

For patients aged 65 years and over, can I use another vaccine if I cannot get hold of aTIV?

• aTIV is the first line choice for patients aged 65 years and over. If you are currently unable to obtain stocks of aTIV then you should advise your patient to wait 1 to 2 weeks for stock to become available or direct them to another provider which has stock availability. 
• If the waiting period is likely to be over 1 month then you can use your clinical judgement as to whether it would be better to vaccinate with QIVc Flucelvax 
• You cannot use the QIVe for this age group

The Government flu vaccine stockpile

• As part of the Government’s COVID-19 response, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) anticipated the increase in demand for vaccine and worked with several of the flu vaccine manufacturers to obtain additional supplies of vaccines for the UK.
• Most of these supplies are not stock that would ordinarily be available in the UK, as they are the result of vaccine suppliers running their production cycles for longer than they had originally planned.
• These vaccines will be delivered in November and December. PSNC is discussing with DHSC the approach to distribution of the stock which will be made available to community pharmacies, to ensure that it is available as quickly as possible to meet patient demand.