Seasonal Flu (Influenza) Vaccination

Protecting your health, your workplace, and your community

Seasonal Flu continues to be a major cause of illness, hospitalisation and excess winter deaths. Vaccination remains the most effective intervention for reducing serious illness and protecting healthcare capacity during the winter months.

Receiving an annual flu vaccination is the most effective way to reduce the risk of catching flu and spreading it to others.

Why Flu Vaccination Matters

For Employees

Workplaces are environments where flu spreads easily.

Vaccinating your workforce helps:

• Reduce sickness absence: Fewer employees become unwell, and those who do often experience milder symptoms.
• Maintain productivity: Healthy teams mean fewer disruptions, smoother operations, and reduced pressure on colleagues.
• Protect vulnerable staff: Some employees may be at higher risk of complications. Vaccination helps safeguard them and their families.
• Support a healthier workplace culture: Offering flu vaccination demonstrates care, responsibility, and commitment to staff wellbeing.

Your normal NHS Health services providers will continue to vaccinate the following groups for 2026/2027:

• Adults aged 65 years and over
• Individuals aged 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups
• Pregnant women
• Residents in older adult care homes
• Carers
• Close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• Frontline health and social care workers
• Eligible children through the childhood influenza programme

Employers who have pre‑ordered vaccines for 2026 will be contacted shortly by YellOH’s Vaccination Team to confirm clinic dates and provide sufficient notice for staff to attend the onsite sessions.

YellOH will only be offering workplace flu vaccinations to employees where companies have chosen to vaccinate their staff.  

Programme Start Dates for the 2026/27 programme will commence early October 2026, with the aim to complete delivery by end of November 2026.  If vaccine stocks are available, YellOH will continue to offer vaccination until 31 March 2027 for eligible employees who have not yet been vaccinated.

Side Effects

Flu vaccines cannot cause flu. Some people may experience mild, short‑lived side effects such as:

• A sore arm or general achiness after the injection
• A stuffy nose or sore throat after the nasal spray vaccine

These symptoms usually last 1–2 days and are not flu.

Can You Still Get Flu After Vaccination?

Yes, but vaccination still offers important protection. You may still become unwell if:

• You are exposed to non‑flu viruses with similar symptoms
• You catch flu before immunity develops (around two weeks)
• You encounter a different flu strain not included in that year’s vaccine
• Your individual immune response varies

Even then, vaccination often reduces severity and duration.

Downloadable Documents for Print

Workplace Posters:

• Protect yourself (PDF)
• Protect Others (PDF)
• Stay Open, Stay Well (PDF)
• Protect yourself this Flu Season (PDF)

Facts on Flu Vaccines:

• Flu vaccine makes me sick?  I cannot risk missing Work or School (PDF)
• Oh the flu isn’t so bad … right?  Wrong! (PDF)
• I’m healthy, I don’t need a flu vaccine PDF)
• Wait a minute I got a flu vaccine once, and still go sick! (PDF)

Why Employers choose YellOH for Flu Vaccination Programmes

• Flexible onsite clinics for workplaces
• Clear communication and easy scheduling
• Clinically led delivery with a focus on comfort and reassurance
• Support for both employer‑funded and private individual appointments.