NHS to stop funding flu vaccinations for primary care workers

Optometrists and other primary care workers will no longer have access to vaccinations funded by the NHS as part of the 2022/2023 flu programme.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have confirmed as part of the living with COVID-19 strategy that employers will be encouraged to make seasonal flu vaccinations part of organisational policy.

AOP chief executive, Adam Sampson, highlighted the association’s disappointment that optometrists and other primary care workers would no longer be eligible for complimentary flu vaccinations.

“Throughout the pandemic, optometry has shown its ability to provide vital eye healthcare,” he emphasised.

“Given the proximity in which our members work with patients – of which many are older and more likely to develop complications from seasonal flu – we would have hoped that the value of reducing infection would have been recognised,” Sampson shared.

Health and social care staff without access to employer-led vaccination schemes will continue to be eligible for NHS-funded flu vaccinations.