How do vaccination rates among flu hospital admissions this season compare to previous seasons in the UK?
Executive summary
Available sources show this season’s vaccine is estimated to reduce hospital attendance or admission by roughly 70–75% in children and 30–40% in adults, and public reporting indicates substantial hospital pressures compared with recent seasons (UKHSA/press reporting; Public Health Scotland) [1] [2]. Historic uptake numbers from the 2024–25 season show mixed coverage — for example, by week 3 of 2025 vaccine uptake was 74.4% in those 65+ but only about 39–40% in under‑65s in clinical risk groups and ~34–35% in pregnant women — complicating comparisons between seasons [3].
1. What the headline figures say about protection in hospitalised patients
Early UK analyses this season find strong vaccine effectiveness: children aged 2–17 are about 70–75% less likely to attend or be admitted to hospital if vaccinated, while adults show roughly 30–40% reduction in hospital attendance/admission (reported by UKHSA and repeated in news and Public Health Scotland commentary) [1] [2]. Those effectiveness estimates speak to the vaccine’s ability to lower the share of vaccinated people among flu hospital admissions — if vaccines prevent many cases, the remaining hospital cohort will include a lower proportion of vaccinated people relative to an unvaccinated baseline [1] [2].
2. Why vaccination rates among admissions this season may look different
Two dynamics shape the observed vaccination status of admitted patients: vaccine effectiveness and who actually took the jab. Even a moderately effective vaccine (30–40% in adults) still prevents many admissions, but if uptake is low in a group, a larger share of admissions will be unvaccinated. Conversely, high uptake in older adults (74.4% 65+ in week 3 data) should lower admissions in that cohort and shift admissions toward younger, less‑vaccinated groups — a pattern noted in recent coverage of rising paediatric admissions [3] [1] [2].
3. How this season compares to last season on uptake and pressure
Available surveillance for 2024–25 shows lower uptake in some eligible groups (for example under‑65s in clinical risk groups ~39.5% and pregnant women ~34–35%), while older adults had higher uptake (~74.4%) [3]. Independent and public health reports describe heavier hospital activity at the end of 2024 and into early 2025 — e.g., average of ~4,469 flu patients per day in England in the last week of December 2024 — and note that lower uptake contributed to high hospitalisation counts last season [4] [5]. Direct comparisons of the vaccination status of admitted people between seasons are not presented in these sources; they provide effectiveness and overall uptake figures, not a side‑by‑side vaccinated‑share‑of‑admissions metric (available sources do not mention a direct, season‑to‑season comparison of vaccination rates among flu hospital admissions).
4. Early-season viral changes and timing of vaccination
Public health guidance for 2025–26 shifted adult programme timing toward October/November to maximise protection close to the peak as effectiveness can wane over months (NHS guidance and programme letters) [6] [7]. UKHSA and regional public health bodies note changes in circulating strains (notably an A(H3N2) subclade) and an early season, which affects both observed effectiveness and who ends up in hospital [2] [1]. Timing matters: delayed vaccination or late uptake can leave people unprotected during an early surge even if they eventually get vaccinated [6] [7].
5. Data limitations and what’s not available in reporting
Public sources in the set provide vaccine effectiveness estimates and overall uptake figures for cohorts, and they describe hospital pressure, but they do not publish a clear, comparable metric showing the percentage of hospitalised flu patients who were vaccinated this season versus previous seasons (available sources do not mention a season‑to‑season breakdown of vaccination status among flu hospital admissions) [1] [3] [2]. That absence prevents a definitive numerical comparison of “vaccination rates among flu hospital admissions” across seasons from these reports alone.
6. Competing interpretations and implied agendas
Public health bodies emphasize vaccine effectiveness and urge uptake; NHS communications and public health notices stress programme timing and higher uptake targets to reduce hospital pressures — an operational message aimed at providers and the public [7] [8]. Media reports underscore both vaccine protection and worries about low uptake or new strains; some outlets frame the issue as a failure of coverage, others frame it as an early, more severe season that requires prompt vaccination [1] [5] [9]. Those different framings reflect implicit agendas: public health messaging focuses on prevention, while news coverage highlights crisis and service disruption.
Conclusion: the available reporting shows vaccines are substantially protecting against hospital admission this season (70–75% in children; 30–40% in adults) and that uptake varies strongly by age group (high in 65+, low in some risk groups), but the sources do not provide a direct, comparable figure for the proportion of admitted flu patients who were vaccinated now versus in previous seasons [1] [3] [2].