Scottish Vaccine Update
Issue 83

Welcome to the September edition of the Scottish Vaccine Update.

This edition focuses on the winter vaccine programme which includes influenza (flu) and coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations.

It also provides a timely reminder that students should be encouraged to ensure their vaccinations are up to date before heading off to college or university this year.

The winter vaccination programme is due to start in Scotland this month.

It aims to provide protection to those most at risk of hospitalisation and severe illness from both flu or COVID-19.

The optimum timing of this delivery is proposed each year by the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an independent expert advisory body that advises health departments on immunisation and effective vaccine delivery.

In Scotland, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) within Scottish Government reviews JCVI advice and, with ministerial approval, instructs the 14 NHS health boards on the requirements for delivery of this, and all, vaccine programme.

Read the CMO letters that detail eligibility for the 2024-25 winter programme:

• Seasonal influenza (flu) immunisation programme 2024-25
• Seasonal coronavirus (COVID-19) immunisation programme 2024-25

As always, the aim is for vaccination to be completed before peak winter flu and COVID-19 season.

With almost 1.6 million adult flu and over 530,000 child flu vaccinations, and over 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccines delivered to eligible people in Scotland last year, the programme must start this month to ensure people receive their vaccinations in good time.

The UK Heath Security Agency's Immunisation Against Infectious Disease collection – popularly known as the 'Green Book' – contains chapters on vaccine preventable infectious diseases in the UK.

These chapters are updated as necessary to reflect the current policies and procedures as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

View the chapters relating to the winter programme:

• Influenza: the green book, chapter 19
• COVID-19: the green book, chapter 14a

To support this winter vaccine programme, there are many different national teams working behind the scenes to provide information, resources, and support to help health boards deliver a safe and effective programme.

These include:

• information systems which provide health boards with the details of those who are eligible for vaccines each year
• using JCVI advice and health records
• the national scheduling system which sends out letters, emails or texts (based on customer communication preference) to those eligible people

Ensuring safe and reliable supplies of the different vaccines is also key with a network of supply routes and vaccine holding centres across the whole of Scotland.

The National Contact Centre continues to provide telephone support (through the national vaccination helpline on 0800 030 8013) to those who may need help to book appointments or more specific information.

Public Health Scotland provides and regularly updates call handler guidance in the form of a question-and-answer document.

Uptake data, including that for key groups and different locations is recorded throughout the winter programme. This allows uptake rates to be monitored and any issues identified at an early stage.

Evaluation of this data and the vaccination experience for many groups in recent years is used to drive improvements to the programme. This supports local health boards in their work to reach communities and groups and tackle barriers which may exist.

Local radio campaigns are run to raise awareness of the winter programme, and social media campaigns run to ensure the public are aware of the benefits of flu and/or COVID-19 vaccines for them or members of their family.

PHS has produced marketing toolkits for social media to support health boards to run local campaigns. 

As of 23 August 2024 national specimen Patient Group Directions (PGD) have been issued to NHS health boards which support the 2024/25 flu program.

The PGDs can be accessed on our website: 

• PGD for the administration of inactivated influenza vaccine 2024/25 season
• PGD for the administration of live attenuated intranasal influenza vaccine (LAIV) 2024/25 season

The national specimen PGDs for COVID-19 vaccination will be published in advance of the program starting.

Please refer to your locally approved PGD alongside the training materials from NHS National Education for Scotland (NES).

Ensuring the public can access information on the winter programme and individual vaccines is also key to ensure trust in all vaccination programme, and to help those who may need more support in accessing vaccination. 

PHS has developed resources to support the workforce to:

• be fully informed about flu and COVID-19 vaccination programme
• support vaccine confidence and equity
• be an aid to conversation about the vaccines

This includes information to support informed consent for the flu and COVID-19 vaccine programme, aiming to support confident conversations about the vaccines being offered to those eligible this winter.

Information leaflets are available in English and alternative languages and formats (such as British Sign Language, Audio and Easy Read).

Students are at increased risk of infectious diseases like meningitis, septicaemia, and measles, which can be severe and, in some cases, life threatening.

These diseases spread easily in universities and colleges, as students mix closely with others from around the country and overseas.

The new semester for Scottish universities and colleges is an important opportunity to remind students of free vaccinations provided by NHSScotland.

These vaccines are offered as part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule. However if they’ve been missed, it’s not too late to catch up. Ideally, they should be given at least two weeks before the new semester starts.

Students are 11 times more likely to develop invasive meningococcal disease, which causes meningitis and septicaemia. The meningitis ACWY (MenACWY) vaccine helps to protect against these very serious diseases. 

Parts of the UK and other countries in Europe have been seeing an increase in the number of people getting measles, and evidence suggests students are at higher risk. That’s why it’s important to check students have had two doses of the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella and has saved over 4,500 lives across the UK.

Find out more about vaccines for students on NHS inform.

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The Scottish Vaccine Update provides regular, up-to-date information for Scotland’s vaccination workforce.

We aim to keep healthcare practitioners informed on the latest activity within each of the vaccine programmes.

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