You can have a flu vaccine if you have any of the following long-term conditions:

• Chronic (long-term) respiratory disease
  For example, asthma that needs regular or repeated use of inhalers or steroid tablets, or if you have had asthma flare ups that needed hospital treatment, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or chronic bronchitis.

• Chronic heart disease and vascular disease

• Chronic kidney disease
  Specifically if you are at stage 3, 4 or 5.

• Chronic liver disease

• Chronic neurological disease
  For example, Parkinson’s disease or motor neurone disease.

• Learning disability

• Diabetes and adrenal insufficiency

• Asplenia or spleen dysfunction

• Weakened immune system
  Caused by a health condition, such as HIV or AIDS, or by treatments like chemotherapy.

• Morbid obesity
  Adults aged 16 and over with a BMI of 40 kg/m² or above.

You may also be eligible for a flu vaccine if you are in one of the following groups.

Household contacts of immunocompromised people

If you live with someone who has a severely weakened immune system and share the same home on most days during winter, you are eligible. Close contact increases the risk of passing flu to them.

People living in long-stay care settings

This includes long-stay residential and nursing homes and other care facilities where infections can spread quickly and cause serious illness. This does not usually include prisons, young offender institutions, university halls of residence, or boarding schools.

Carers

You are eligible if you receive a carer’s allowance or if you are the main carer for an older or disabled person whose wellbeing could be affected if you fell ill.

Frontline social care staff

Eligible staff include those without access to an employer-led occupational health scheme who are:

• employed by registered residential care or nursing homes or domiciliary care providers, providing direct care to vulnerable people

• employed by voluntary managed hospices, directly involved in caring for vulnerable people

• employed through Direct Payments (personal budgets) or Personal Health Budgets, such as Personal Assistants

• delivering social care services in direct contact with people who are clinically vulnerable to flu