Last Thursday, we published the first of our weekly winter respiratory virus surveillance reports. The latest data shows that activity throughout September has been higher than in the same period during all past 4 winter seasons. While still at baseline (very low) levels, flu trends have been rising since August and there are possible signs that we may see an early flu season.

In our press release, we also explain that a recent World Health Organization (WHO) technical report shows a drifted A(H1N1) flu virus circulating at low levels in the UK. Though it's too early to say how widely it will spread or how effective the vaccine will be against it, flu vaccines typically remain effective at preventing severe illness even against drifted strains. 

We are urging all those eligible for the flu vaccine to get vaccinated as soon as they can. Those who are vaccinated are likely to have milder symptoms and recover faster, cutting the risk of being hospitalised. 

You can read more about what we know so far about this year's flu strains in our new blog post. 

You can help promote the flu vaccination offer to your audience with our winter vaccines communications toolkit for stakeholders, produced jointly with NHS England.

This is available on the Campaign Resource Centre and it contains key messages, statistics, FAQs, resource links, and social media assets to support flu, COVID-19, RSV and pneumococcal vaccine promotion, along with guidance on ordering leaflets and posters.

For further information about our national vaccine campaign and communications please contact: externalaffairs@ukhsa.gov.uk (UKHSA) or england.vaccinations-screening-communications@nhs.net (NHS England).

To support winter communications, we recently published a post on our blog exploring the COVID-19 variants which are currently circulating, including the XFG or Stratus strain, also referred to as 'American COVID' in some media coverage. 

It explains the recent rise in positive tests and hospital admissions, noting this reflects a general seasonal increase in COVID-19 activity rather than a more severe variant, with similar trends seen across Europe and the US. The post also covers the BA.3.2 (Cicada) variant, current vaccine eligibility, treatment access for vulnerable groups, and UKHSA's ongoing surveillance work.

Stakeholders may wish to use this to counter misleading "American COVID" narratives, support winter respiratory illness messaging, and signpost eligible audiences to vaccination and treatment information.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a Food Alert for Action to businesses, including caterers, manufacturers, wholesalers and consumers, calling on businesses to withdraw and recall eggs from one Ukrainian food business.

Following egg sampling undertaken by UKHSA, Salmonella Enteritidis was found in samples of eggs from one Ukrainian supplier. UKHSA then carried out whole genome sequencing which showed that the strain did not match the outbreak strains currently under investigation. However, the strain from the eggs was linked to 36 cases of Salmonella infection reported in England in 2026.

The FSA’s advice is that if people have bought any of the affected products, do not eat them and instead, dispose of them at home, as they may be unsafe. While most eggs are used within the catering supply chain, some eggs may be available for retail sale in small shops. These eggs are not sold in large retailers like supermarkets.

Thank you to those who attended our Communicating Vaccines webinar - winter vaccines 2026/27 which took place Monday 5 October, 2pm – 3-15pm. 

The recording is now available on YouTube and the slides can be accessed via this link. If you are having trouble accessing the slides, please email us externalaffairs@ukhsa.gov.uk so we can share a hard copy with you. 

Some useful links were shared throughout the presentations which we have included below for those unable to attend live on Monday:

• NHS England: Top tips for getting NHS staff vaccinated
• Order and download vaccination resources from our find public health resources website
• All campaign materials and communications toolkits on vaccination can be found on the Campaign Resource Centre.
• Campaign Resource Centre: Winter vaccination resources
• Campaign Resource Centre: Communications toolkit for the health and social care workers flu campaign
• Campaign Resource Centre: Assets for the care sector to encourage flu uptake

In the next week, we will be sharing a short feedback form for attendees to complete. Any feedback you provide is greatly appreciated as it informs how we run future stakeholder webinars.

Last week, Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), UKHSA and Innovate UK announced £33.2 million to fund 8 vaccine projects which will target diseases including Ebola, plague, Marburg, Lassa fever, Nipah virus, chikungunya and Mayaro.

The new awards will build the research, clinical trial and technical capability needed to develop, test and deploy vaccines at speed. They will also help make vaccines affordable, accessible and ready for use in countries at greatest risk.

Last week we published a blog post on Group A streptococci (GAS), also referred to as 'strep A'. It sets out what strep A is, the mild infections it causes (such as scarlet fever, strep throat and impetigo) and the rarer but more serious invasive infections, including signs that warrant urgent medical attention. It also covers simple steps to reduce spread, such as handwashing and staying away from others when unwell, and highlights that children who've recently had chickenpox face a slightly higher risk of iGAS.

Stakeholders working with parents, schools, early years settings or healthcare audiences may find this useful for signposting into winter illness messaging, particularly around chickenpox season and when to use 111 versus A&E. The blog can also support local health protection communications and links to UKHSA's data dashboard for tracking case trends.

UKHSA is concerned that many young people, especially freshers, remain unprotected against this devastating disease and is urging all eligible individuals to get vaccinated with 2 doses.

Our first interim report on MenB vaccine coverage for the year 13 cohort for the the one-off vaccination offer targeting young adults in England shows coverage:

• was 26.6% (212,549 vaccinated out of 799,840 eligible individuals) up to 20 September 2026
• is gradually increasing as young adults have more time to be vaccinated (the report figures are for the first 9 weeks of the vaccination offer)
• varies substantially by geography, sex, deprivation and ethnicity

All eligible young people can book their MenB vaccine by booking online or visiting a participating pharmacy.

A reminder that the one-off vaccination programme is being offered to:

• Everyone born between 01/09/2007 and 31/08/2008
• Young people under 25 (born on or after 21/07/2001) who will be starting higher education for the first time, or who will be starting further education for the firsttime as a residential student, in autumn 2026
• International students under 25 entering their first year of university. They should receive their first dose in their home country where possible to give the best chance
  of protection ahead of the start of the autumn term.

Stakeholders can support communications on the MenB vaccine offer by using our communications toolkit.

This winter people experiencing homelessness (people rough sleeping and those using homeless hostels or night-shelters) are eligible for both the flu and pneumococcal vaccines.

The latest NHS England press release confirms that, alongside the vaccine offer being available at GP practices and community pharmcies, NHS pop-up clinics and mobile vans will also be established in homeless hotspots to ensure everyone has the best chance to get protected against winter diseases.

Here are some resources to help communicate this new vaccine offer:

• Poster and guide: We have a poster, a guide, a pocket guide and an easy read version providing information on vaccines for people experiencing homelessness. It offers information on the flu, pneumococcal and other vaccines offered to eligible people. These are able to download or to order for free via the Find Public Health Resources website (login required for ordering large quantities).
  
  
• Social cards: NHS England has produced some social cards and display screen materials (available on Google Drive). These have been designed to display in services, to make outreach workers aware of the vaccine offer so they can promote it to the people they work with.
  
  
• Multi-agency toolkit: UKHSA has published a