Summary of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Statement for 2025-2026

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) reviews the evolving evidence on influenza immunization and provides annual recommendations regarding the use of seasonal influenza vaccines. The NACI Statement on seasonal influenza vaccines for 2025-2026 updates the NACI recommendations from the previous year.

To summarize the 2025-2026 NACI seasonal influenza vaccine recommendations and to highlight new and updated information.

For the development of the Statement on seasonal influenza vaccines for 2025-2026, the NACI Influenza Working Group applied the NACI evidence-based process to assess available evidence and formulate recommendations. These recommendations were evaluated and approved by NACI based on the available evidence.

Key updates for the 2025-2026 influenza season include: 1) removal of the preferential recommendation for quadrivalent influenza vaccines in children; 2) reiteration of the safety of concurrent administration of seasonal influenza vaccines and other vaccines, including COVID-19, based on updated evidence; 3) new evidence on the protective effects of influenza vaccination on cardiovascular events; 4) updated language for Indigenous populations; and 5) addition of individuals at higher risk of avian influenza A(H5N1) exposure as a group for whom influenza vaccination is particularly important.

NACI recommends that seasonal influenza vaccine should be offered annually to anyone six months of age and older who does not have a contraindication to the vaccine. Influenza vaccination is particularly important for people at high risk of influenza-related complications or hospitalization, people capable of transmitting influenza to those at high risk, and others as outlined in the Statement.