Nearly four thousand flu deaths counted last winter in England

Around 4,000 deaths in England last winter were attributed to flu, according to the UK Health Security Agency's annual report, and officials are now urging older people to book this season's jabs. The precise figure is 3,798 excess flu deaths, alongside an estimated 104,000 hospital admissions and 7,100 deaths that the vaccination programme is credited with preventing.

The same report contains a number the campaign materials mention less prominently: overall flu vaccine effectiveness in adults last winter was 21 to 34 percent, well below the previous winter. In children the vaccine performed far better, at 51 to 68 percent, and children are the main route by which flu reaches older households. The RSV vaccine was around 82 percent effective at preventing hospital admissions among adults aged 75 to 79.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, called the death toll "a stark reminder that these seasonal viruses should never be dismissed as just a bad cold, particularly in later life," and encouraged friends and relatives to check which vaccinations older people are entitled to. Health minister Dame Diana Johnson echoed the call.

Current surveillance complicates the pitch somewhat. Flu is circulating at low levels, with hospital admissions at 1.9 per 100,000 people — unchanged from a week ago and roughly the same as at this point in 2025. Last winter's infections peaked in early December, earlier than usual. Dr Jamie Lopez-Bernal of UKHSA conceded that "we can't easily predict what may happen over the coming weeks and vaccination remains our best defence."

The agency will track flu and Covid-19 through the winter either way. Last season's weak adult vaccine performance is the strongest argument on the table for this season's campaign — and the least quoted.