The RSV vaccine rollout started in September.
Adults aged between 65 and 74 years in certain clinical at risk groups are to be offered the RSV jab (Image: Getty)
NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are continuing a major vaccine rollout for older adults in October to protect against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
The NHS RSV vaccination programme got underway on September 1 and this year is being expanded to include adults aged 65 to 74 years in certain clinical at risk groups. The RSV vaccine has been routinely available to older adults as they turn 75 since September 2024 and was later extended to include all adults aged 80 and over, as well as all residents in care homes in April 2026. But following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), a further expansion this year has now extended the eligibility criteria even further to include adults aged 65 to 74 years.
NHS England and the UKHSA confirmed the RSV vaccine expansion back in July, stating that GPs will offer the jab to those who are eligible from September 1, meaning the rollout is now underway.
RSV is a common cause of coughs and colds and while it usually gets better by itself, it can cause severe illness for babies and older adults over the age of 75.
Those who are infected with RSV typically experience cold-like symptoms including a runny or blocked nose, a cough, sneezing, tiredness and a high temperature, but it can also lead to more serious infections like pneumonia or bronchiolitis.
The RSV vaccination is available on the NHS for free to eligible groups, which can help reduce the risk of becoming seriously ill from the infection. You can currently get the jab if:
- you’re 28 weeks pregnant or more
- you’re aged 75 or over
- you live in a care home for older adults
But as of September 1, 2026, adults aged 65 to 74 and in either of the following clinical at risk groups will become eligible to get the RSV vaccine:
1. Chronic respiratory disease including those with:
- poorly controlled asthma
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema
- bronchiectasis
- cystic fibrosis
- interstitial lung fibrosis
- pneumoconiosis
- bronchopulmonary dysplasia
2. Immunosuppression due to disease or treatment.
Confirming the expansion in a letter in July, Caroline Temmink, director of vaccination at NHS England, and Dr Mary Ramsay CBE, director of public health programmes (including immunisation) at the UKHSA, said: “From 1 September 2026, the eligibility criteria will be expanded further to include adults aged 65 to 74 years in certain clinical at risk groups as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).” This includes people with:
- chronic respiratory disease
- immunosuppression due to disease or treatment
The pair set out key points about the programme, including:
- the vaccine used in the programme will continue to be Abrysvo® (Pfizer pre-F vaccine) on a one-dose schedule. Adults who receive the vaccine from 1 September 2026 because they are aged 65 to 74 years old and in a clinical risk group should not be invited for a further dose of Abrysvo® when they become 75 years old
- RSV vaccines can be administered at any time and offers of vaccination should continue throughout the year. RSV vaccination should not be routinely scheduled with influenza vaccination but can be co-administered with the COVID-19 vaccine
- GP providers are expected to deliver a 100% offer to eligible groups, with call and recall delivered at the earliest opportunity
- where community pharmacies have been commissioned to support the older adults RSV programme, an updated enhanced service specification will be issued ahead of 1 September, and commissioned community pharmacies will be invited by regions to enter a contract variation.”
If you’re aged 65 to 74 and have a weakened immune system or long-term lung conditions, your GP surgery will contact you about getting the RSV vaccine and this will usually be by letter, phone call or email.
The vaccine is given as an injection in your upper arm and older adults only need one dose, which should protect them for several years, according to the NHS.
Major petition for Britain to rejoin the EU passes massive milestone
The Prime Minister has said a second referendum could be included in Labour’s next general election manifesto.
Andy Burnham wants the UK to have a closer relationship with the EU (Image: Getty)
A major petition urging the UK to start negotiations to rejoin the European Union has passed a major milestone. The online document set up by Robert McMaster in June has now garnered more than 11,000 signatures. This means the Government will issue a response. The petition states: “10 years after the Brexit referendum and 6 years after leaving the EU, it is clear to us that Brexit isn’t working. We believe any benefits have been dwarfed by loss of influence, extra costs and the inefficiencies it has created.
“We think it is time for the Government to Apply to Rejoin the European Union. While we might not get the same deal as before we nonetheless believe that it would reduce the damage caused by Brexit and help restore our influence by becoming a full member of the EU again.
“The UK is a large country but is still small in world terms. We feel that improving cooperation with our neighbours will help increase economic stability and strengthen international influence, since relying on distant partners alone is not sufficient.
“We firmly believe that our future is best secured as part of a strong, united and democratic Europe.” The Prime Minister has not ruled out the UK’s future re-entry into the EU.
Mr Burnham said in Berlin this week: “The time has come to think more seriously about growth, and obviously we know growth can come from that closer relationship. We have a UK-EU summit in front of us before the end of the year and I think it is important that we can show that growth comes from co-operation, as I believe it can do, as well as facing joint challenges together.”
He added: “It feels to me that the world as it is, is bringing us closer together. It’s making us more closely aligned. We already are very close partners, but UK and Germany becomes a more important axis as we go into the next next period.”
Brits voted to leave the EU in 2016 (Image: Getty)
The petition will stay open until December 24. Mr McMaster is a member of Berkshire for Europe, a local chapter of European Movement UK. Another petition of his passed 110,000 signatures.
It stated: “10 years after the Brexit vote and 6 years since the UK left the EU, it has become clear that Brexit has failed and that the UK public no longer supports leaving the EU, with a clear majority wishing to return. Recent Government statements make it clear that it wishes the UK to have closer relations with the EU, but nothing comes close to being as beneficial for the UK as rejoining the EU as a full member where we will be able to take a full part and have a full say in its deliberations (even if the terms are not the same as last time, and we urgently need pro-EU groups to lead a proper debate on what that might mean).”
When it reached 100,000 signatures, the organiser warned that he will not give up.
“This is the third petition to Apply to Rejoin the EU to the current Government, and the second to reach 100,000 signatures,” he wrote. “The first led to a three-hour debate in Parliament in March last year where 42 MPs spoke for an average of four minutes each, 38 of whom criticised the Government’s stance, with only four supporting Brexit – the official Government spokesperson, a Conservative Minister and two Northern Ireland MPs. (No Reform MPs bothered to attend.)
“We hope this petition will lead to a second debate where another 40 MPs can tell the Government what they and their constituents think, and encourage signatories of the petition to write to MPs with their own stories and to ask them to attend.
“And that it will be followed by further petitions every six months (the lifetime of petitions on the Parliament website) with increasing numbers of signatures until the Government changes stance and applies to rejoin.”
