The eligible patient cohorts for vaccination under the spring 2025 Covid-19 programme have been confirmed, following recommendations from government advisors.

In a letter sent to community pharmacies and others, NHS England announced the spring programme will cover: adults aged 75 years and over; residents in care homes for older adults; and individuals aged six months and over who are immunosuppressed.

This comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said both the spring and autumn Covid vaccine campaigns in 2025 should be narrowed as the disease becomes endemic.

A smaller cohort had also been eligible in spring 2024.

This autumn, Covid vaccines were available for free for those aged 65 to 75 years and those who were previously deemed to be in a clinical risk group, however this will not be the case in spring 2025.

The latest JCVI update also advised that it was highly unlikely that vaccination in pregnancy would be cost-effective, saying there had been no deaths in people who were pregnant in the past 18 months.

NHS England’s letter, sent on Friday, said vaccination for all eligible cohorts should begin from 1 April 2025 and that priority should be given to older adult care homes and eligible housebound patients.

The campaign end date will be 17 June 2025.

Health workers will not be eligible for the spring-specific campaign, as has been the case in previous years.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) this year decided that the national autumn vaccination offer would extend to all primary and community healthcare staff involved in direct patient care, despite not being recommended by the JCVI.

The government is still considering JCVI’s advice for autumn 2025 and spring 2026 programmes and will respond in due course.

Minister for public health and prevention, Andrew Gwynne, said: ‘We are committed to making sure the most vulnerable people are protected from Covid-19, and have accepted the independent advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for the spring 2025 vaccination programme.

‘I urge those eligible who are yet to come forward for a Covid-19, flu or RSV vaccination this winter to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect themselves, their family, and the NHS.’