Spring COVID-19 Vaccination- Extended to 8 July 2026

NHS England (East of England) has confirmed that the Spring COVID-19 vaccination programme has been extended until 8 July 2026 due to the impact of the recent extreme heat on vaccine logistics, vaccinator availability and patient uptake.

Vaccinations from 1–8 July

CPH has sought clarification regarding the arrangements for continuing the programme beyond the original end date.

NHS England has confirmed that this extension is a regional exception and that the national PGD/VGD cannot be extended. As a result, all vaccinations administered between 1 and 8 July must be delivered under a Patient Specific Direction (PSD).

What this means for pharmacy contractors

• A PSD is a written instruction from an authorised prescriber for an individual named patient to receive their vaccination.
• Unlike a PGD, a PSD cannot be used as a blanket authorisation for multiple patients.
• Contractors wishing to continue vaccinating during the extension period must have arrangements in place for PSDs to be completed before vaccinations are administered.
• Contractors who do not have access to an appropriate prescriber arrangement may not be able to continue vaccinating beyond 30 June.

We recognise this presents operational challenges for community pharmacy, where vaccination services are typically delivered under PGDs. However, NHS England has advised that a PSD is the only legal mechanism available once the national PGD/VGD expires.

End of campaign actions

• Use remaining viable vaccine stock before campaign end; dispose of any remaining stock following local standard procedures
• Dispose of expired stock in line with local procedures and update waste records on FDP Site Stock Manager
• Complete a final zero-balance stocktake on FDP
• Community pharmacies and other sites whose allocations are automatically increased via TDM should opt out of TDM through the FDP Supply Dashboard once all vaccination activity is complete, to prevent further automatic allocation increases and unnecessary vaccine ordering
• Offer unused Combined Needle and Syringe (CNS) sets to other NHS or locally commissioned services within your ICB or region, or remove from stock following local sharps disposal procedures
• Complete all open or in-progress legally permitted vaccine transfer transactions to closed status in FDP before your site becomes inactive.

As the Spring 2026 COVID-19 vaccination campaign enters its final weeks, all remaining vaccine allocations will transition to Nuvaxovid JN.1 as part of planned vaccine supply management.