Pharmacies to get flu vaccination materials from this week

Community pharmacies will start receiving flu vaccination materials by courier from Friday (October 9), the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has said.

The resources, which are for the Public Health England annual flu vaccination campaign launched on Monday (October 5), will be delivered in a clearly marked envelope.

This will include a selection of posters to enable contractors to target their flu vaccination service, where provided, and a version where they can add local information on service provision.

The campaign has been agreed between PSNC and NHS England as part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework and all contractors must participate in the campaign with the following activities.

• If contractors have flu vaccine supplies available (or coming into stock soon), they must display at least one of each of the three posters (core creative, pregnancy and long term conditions) for one month from receipt of the materials
• If contractors do not initially have sufficient flu vaccine supplies, they should take a targeted approach to displaying the campaign materials from their receipt, using the posters focused on vaccinations for pregnant women and people with long term health conditions. Once sufficient flu vaccine stock is received, the contractor must then display the main “core creative” poster too. Posters should be displayed for one month
• If they have flu vaccine stock available or arriving soon, contractors can use the ‘empty belly’ poster to advertise upcoming clinics or explain how patients can access a vaccination
• If a contractor is not providing the flu vaccination service in 2020/21, they must display at least one of each of the three posters (core creative, pregnancy and long term conditions) for one month from receipt of the materials. The empty belly posters can be used to direct patients to where vaccination can be accessed.

If contractors have not received their pack by the October 16, then they should email and include their pharmacy name, address, and telephone number and state they have not received their Flu Vaccination campaign resources, the pharmacy negotiator has said.

Additionally, the Department of Health and Social Care (DH), PHE, and the NHS have published a leaflet on flu vaccination for the people who are facing a delay in the vaccination process and are being asked to wait to get vaccinated.

This follows significant early demand for flu vaccinations being seen this season, with some pharmacies and general practices already having run out of initial supplies of the vaccine.