The Government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is expected to set out plans on Tuesday which will mean 12 million people aged 50 to 64 are no longer eligible for free vaccines.
The vaccination drive usually starts in early September in an attempt to ensure sufficient protection against an early flu season.
Health officials said the later start would ensure that the vulnerable are protected in the depths of winter when viruses are most likely to spread.
The UK recommendations come despite fears of senior medics that this winter could be even worse than last year, when flu admissions were the highest for a decade.
Before the pandemic flu jabs were offered to healthy adults over the age of 65, as well as to children and younger adults with health conditions.
During the pandemic the rollout of flu jabs was extended to cover those aged 50 to 64 in line with those eligible for Covid boosters.
One source close to the rollout said the scaling back of the flu programme was an attempt to “go back to normal” after the pandemic.
Uptake fell sharply
Just 40.6 per cent of those aged between 50 and 65 in England came forward for a flu vaccination in 2022-23, down from 45.7 per cent the year before.
Meanwhile, six million people, or 51.7 per cent, from the same age range came forward for a Covid booster last winter, down from 77.6 per cent the previous year.
Health officials say the later start in October this year will “maximise protection during the worst months for viruses of December and January”. There will also be 12 million fewer people being offered jabs – almost half of the 26 million previously eligible for Covid jabs – enabling a more swift rollout.
Anyone under 65 in a clinical risk group as well as healthcare workers and carers will still also be eligible for flu and Covid jabs. Children aged between two and 17 will also be eligible for flu nasal sprays, while some who are clinically at risk will be eligible for Covid jabs.
A senior health source said the decision to limit Covid jabs to the over 65s would put it in line with recommendations on flu, allowing for “easier co-administration of both jabs at the same appointment”.
An NHS spokesman said: “The NHS flu vaccination programme will begin in October based on the latest clinical evidence – it will maximise protection for patients right across the winter months when it is typically colder, and viruses are more likely to spread with people spending more time indoors.
More vaccine sites
“The NHS is working to ensure a growing number of vaccine sites across England offer both flu and Covid-19 vaccines in the same visit, to make it as convenient as possible for people to get life-saving protection from both viruses ahead of winter.”
It comes after NHS England warned at a board meeting last month that Australia, whose flu seasons usually forecast England’s, was experiencing “one of its biggest flu seasons on record”, with children making up four in five flu-related hospital admissions.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr Vin Diwakar, medical director for transformation, said this winter would be “a difficult one” as the health service set out its winter plan, which included rolling out respiratory hubs to stop GPs becoming overwhelmed.
Dr Adrian Boyle, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, last month raised fears that this winter would see more deaths than last.
The senior medic said NHS plans to head off a winter crisis were inadequate as he accused the Government of “blithely sailing towards an iceberg”.
