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Home › Seasonal Vaccinations 2026/27

Seasonal vaccinations 2026/27 · Flu & COVID-19

Get winter-ready in one visit.

Flu and COVID-19 jabs at all four Oxford branches: free on the NHS if you’re eligible, private if you’re not. Book both together, one in each arm, and save £5.

Flu & COVID jabs at all four branches – NHS-free if eligible, private if not. Book both together and save £5.

Book private

Or see the free NHS routes ↓

Pick your route

Three ways to get protected.

The NHS funds both jabs for the people most at risk. Everyone else can have exactly the same vaccines privately.

Clinician giving a vaccination into a patient's upper arm

NHS: flu & COVID

Free if you’re eligible

  • Flu: 65+, pregnancy, long-term conditions, carers, children 2–3 and at-risk 2–17
  • COVID-19: 75+, care-home residents, immunosuppressed (6 months+)
  • Pregnancy from 1 Sept · all other groups from 1 Oct
Flu vaccine being injected into a patient's arm

Private flu jab

£25 per dose

  • No eligibility rules: any adult or child
  • Same-day at all four branches
  • This season’s trivalent, strain-matched flu vaccine
  • Consultation included
Vials of COVID-19 vaccine

Private COVID-19

£99 per dose

  • No eligibility rules: any adult
  • Comirnaty XFG - the confirmed strain for this season
  • Same-day at all four branches
  • Consultation included
Having both privately? Save £5.

Book the private flu jab (£25) and the private COVID booster (£99) in the same visit, one in each arm, and pay £119 for both instead of £124.

Book both - £119
Children aged 2 to 17? No needle.

Children have the nasal-spray vaccine (LAIV): a quick squirt in each nostril. Free on the NHS for eligible children, with school catch-up from 1 December.

Children on the NHS →
Key dates1 Sept · NHS opens for pregnant women|1 Oct · everyone else, NHS & private|1 Dec · school-age catch-up
Why bother?
One quick visit, a whole winter of cover.

Flu and COVID both peak December–February, and both change year on year: this season’s vaccines are matched to the strains now circulating. Protection builds in 10–14 days and does two jobs at once.

Far less likely to catch it

Vaccinated people are markedly less likely to catch flu, and less likely to end up in hospital if they do. The UKHSA figures below show how much lower that risk is.

Protects your household

You’re far less likely to pass it on to the people around you: babies, grandparents, and anyone with a long-term condition.

Ten minutes, no GP

Pharmacist-administered, same-day, at any of our four Oxford branches. No referral, no waiting list.

The season, in numbers

Flu is not a maybe: it arrives every December.

Weekly flu hospital admissions in England last season. The December spike is why October–November vaccination matters: protection is in place before the wave, not after it.

Best time to vaccinate51015SepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprHospital admissions per 100,000 peopleWeek of the flu season (England, 2024/25)Peak: 16.2 admissions per 100,000 (w/c 23 Dec)
How much the jab cut the risk of being hospitalised with fluVaccinated vs unvaccinated, England, 2023/24 season (UKHSA)Children 2–1756% lower risk(95% CI 51–60%)Adults 18–6438% lower risk(95% CI 34–42%)Adults 65+18% lower risk(95% CI 14–22%)

Sources: UK Health Security Agency respiratory surveillance (weekly influenza hospital admissions per 100,000, England, 2024/25 season); UKHSA end-of-season vaccine-effectiveness study against influenza hospitalisation, England, 2023/24 season.

Quick check
Am I eligible on the NHS, or is it private?

Three quick questions. Nothing is stored.

1. Which jab are you asking about?
FAQs

Common questions.

Yes: same appointment, one in each arm. It’s safe and saves a second trip, and booking both privately saves you £5 (£119 for the pair). More on the booster: COVID booster 2026/27, NHS or private.

Flu: 65+, pregnancy, long-term conditions, carers, frontline health/social-care workers, children 2–3 and at-risk 2–17, care-home residents, and people who live with someone immunosuppressed. COVID: 75+, care-home residents, and anyone immunosuppressed aged 6 months+. Not sure? Ask any of our pharmacists. Full comparison: flu jab 2026/27, NHS or private.

Use the NHS booking website – book NHS flu or book NHS COVID – and search with your branch postcode: OX2 9TJ (Botley), OX3 9JA (Headington), OX2 7HQ (Summertown) or OX15 0SW (Deddington). Or just call your branch.

October–November is the sweet spot: protection builds in 10–14 days, ahead of the December–February peak. Schoolchildren and pregnant women can start free NHS jabs from early September; other eligible groups (65+, long-term conditions, carers) from October.

Adults have an injection. Children aged two and over have the nasal-spray vaccine (LAIV) instead: a quick squirt in each nostril, no needle. One dose covers the whole season.

Usually just a sore arm and mild tiredness for a day or so. Serious reactions are rare and every branch is fully equipped.

Yes: both viruses change season to season, so the vaccines are reformulated annually to match. This year’s flu vaccine has been updated to better match subclade K, the strain behind last winter’s early wave.

Ready for winter?

Private bookings open 1 October: free NHS slots from early September (schoolchildren and pregnancy) and October (all other eligible groups).

Four Oxford branches

Available at every branch.

All branches GPhC-registered.

Map of Oxfordshire showing the four MediPill branches
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Talk to us

Pick the closest branch.

Email or phone - we usually reply within the hour.

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Or walk in any time - every branch has a pharmacist on duty.