If you’re offered the flu vaccine, you’ve got a reason to get it
Eligibility
Please wait to be contacted about your vaccination. If you previously chose to be contacted digitally, you’ll receive a text or email with an appointment or prompt. Otherwise, you’ll receive a letter. The letter invites will arrive in the post in white envelopes with clear NHS Scotland branding.
You may receive your invitation at a different time than previous years. You should attend the appointment you’ve been given or rearrange your appointment.
What if I am not eligible?
If you are not eligible you can pay for your flu vaccination at a participating pharmacy. This costs in the region of £16 - £22. Please ask at the pharmacy for more information.
Who can get the separate COVID-19 and flu vaccines
You’ll be offered the separate flu and COVID-19 vaccines this winter if you:
- Are aged 75 years and over (age on 31/03/2026)
- live in a care home for older adults
- are aged 6 months or over and have a weakened immune system (as defined in the ‘immunosuppression’ sections of tables 3 or 4 in the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book
Who will get the flu vaccine only
Those
- Aged 6 months – 2 years with an eligible health condition
- 2 – 5 years (age on 01/09/2025)
- Primary school aged
- Secondary school aged
- aged 65 – 74 years (age on 31/03/2026)
- aged 18 to 64 with an eligible health condition
- Pregnant
- Working in a care home for older adults
- Living with someone who has a weakened immune system
- An unpaid or young carer
- A frontline health or social care worker
- A non-frontline NHS worker
- A poultry worker or bird handler
- Experiencing homelessness or substance misuse
Useful links
Attending appointments
Please arrive for your appointment on time. If you arrive early, you will be asked to wait until your allocated appointment time. If your appointment time is not suitable, please rearrange using the national online portal or by calling 0800 030 8013.
If you wish to attend at the same time as a family member, but have appointments on different dates, you can attend together and our teams will do their best to accommodate this for you.
If you hold Power of Attorney (POA) for an adult without capacity, please bring the POA documentation to vaccination appointments. Without this we may not be able to vaccinate due to lack of valid consent.
Rescheduling or booking community clinic appointments
Please call the National Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013
• Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm
• Saturday, 9:00am to 1:00pm
Booking/rescheduling online
If you need to book or reschedule an appointment online, you can do this by using the portal.
Home visit appointments
If you have a home visit appointment and need to reschedule this, please contact our local team on 01592 648048.
Open access clinics
We will be offering some drop-in clinics for those eligible for vaccines as soon as practicably possible. Our Open Access clinics will be advertised at Open access clinics 2025 | NHS Fife
Alternative languages and formats
If you need a different format (Braille, for example) or language (Albanian, for example), please contact: phs.otherformats@phs.scot or visit NHS Inform.
Other pages in Immunisation
High School Vaccinations
Helping protect children and young people against some very serious and often preventable illnesses.
Flu vaccination for healthcare and social care workers
All healthcare workers as well as frontline social care workers are eligible for the free flu jab. The strains circulating change constantly and the vaccine offered this year will give you the best possible protection against catching and spreading the virus.
