COVID-19 vaccine
The spring vaccination programme is available for eligible people from 20 April 2026 in Northern Ireland.
Spring 2026 programme
The vaccination programme, which will help protect Northern Ireland against deadly viruses, will start on 20 April 2026 and will continue to the end of June.
You will be offered the COVID-19 vaccine if you are:
- aged 75 and over
- a resident in a care home for older adults
- aged six months to 74 years and immunosuppressed
If you are eligible for vaccination against COVID-19 this spring, you should make yourself aware of your own GP surgery’s or community pharmacist’s vaccination arrangements and work with them to get vaccinated.
Where to get your COVID-19 vaccine
GP surgeries
You can get the COVID-19 vaccine from your GP surgery if you are:
- aged 75 and over
- 18 to 74 years old and immunosuppressed
Community pharmacies
Participating community pharmacies are offering the COVID-19 vaccine to:
- care home residents
- people aged 75 and over
- those aged 18 to 74 who are immunosuppressed
- Find a vaccination clinic
HSC Trust clinics
You can get the COVID-19 vaccine from a HSC Trust clinic if you are:
- six months to 17 years old and immunosuppressed
- those aged 18 to 74 years old and immunosuppressed
- people aged 75 and over
If you are housebound and fall within an eligible group, a HSC Trust team will be in touch to arrange your vaccination.
You can book a vaccine appointment at your local HSC Trust clinic at the link below:
More information about who can get the flu vaccine is available at:
Infant and children's programme
The COVID-19 vaccine is being offered to children aged six months and over who are immunosuppressed due to disease or treatment, in line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice.
It includes children:
- undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy, solid organ transplant recipients, bone marrow or stem cell transplant recipients
- with genetic disorders affecting the immune system (for example, deficiencies of IRAK-4 or NEMO, complement disorder, SCID)
- with haematological malignancy, including leukaemia and lymphoma
- receiving immunosuppressive or immunomodulating biological therapy
- treated with or likely to be treated with high or moderate dose corticosteroids
- receiving any dose of non-biological oral immune modulating drugs, such as methotrexate, azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine or mycophenolate
- with auto-immune diseases who may require long term immunosuppressive treatments
Children who are about to receive planned immunosuppressive therapy should be considered for vaccination before commencing therapy.
Some parents may receive a letter or a phone call to invite their child to an HSC Trust clinic for vaccination.
If you receive an invitation letter, it will explain how to make the appointment for your child.
The leaflet to support parents of children at serious risk from the complications of coronavirus infection is available at:
First doses of COVID-19 vaccine
If you have never received a COVID-19 vaccine, you can receive a vaccine during the spring programme.
Further information about the vaccine
The Public Health Agency has developed a range of leaflets and a frequently asked questions section:
Types of vaccine
You will be given a booster dose of a vaccine made by Pfizer, Moderna or Sanofi and approved in the UK.
These vaccines have been updated since the original vaccines and target a different COVID-19 variant.
These updated vaccines boost protection well and give slightly higher levels of antibody against the more recent strains of COVID-19 (Omicron).
You should accept the vaccination that is offered to you as soon as you are able to. You will be offered the right vaccine for you at the right time.
Vaccine safety
There are very few eligible people who should not have a dose this spring.
If you have had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine you should discuss this with your doctor.
The vaccine has met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
More information is available at:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine research registry
The NHS COVID-19 vaccine registry allows members of the public to register their interest and be contacted to take in clinical studies.
If you are 18 years old or over and live in the UK, you can sign up to give permission for researchers to contact you about taking part in COVID-19 vaccine studies.
You are not signing up to take part in a specific health study when you use this service. You are letting researchers know you're happy for them to contact you if they think you might be suitable to take part in their studies.
More information about taking part in research and other opportunities to take part in COVID-19 research can be found at: