The 2025 flu vaccine is free for:

1. people aged 65 years and over,

2. people aged 6 months and over who have a long-term medical condition like diabetes, asthma if on a regular preventative therapy, or a heart condition,

3. pregnant people,

4. children aged 4 years and under who have been hospitalised for respiratory illness or have a history of significant respiratory illness,

5. people with mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizoaffective disorder,

6. people who are currently accessing secondary or tertiary mental health and addiction services.

For detailed free flu vaccine criteria — click here

The circulating influenza viruses can change and the strains in the vaccine usually change each year in response to the changing virus pattern.

For 2025 programme, the influenza strains included in the vaccine we offer are:

• A/Victoria/4897/2022 (H1N1) pdm09-like virus

• A/Croatia/10136RV/2023 (H3N2)-like virus

• B/Austria/1359471/2021-like virus

• B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus

Please ensure you read the factsheet and consent form prior to getting vaccinated. You will find common translations of the consent form below.

• Fact Sheet - Available in English, Te Reo, Samoan NZSL, Chinese, Hindi & Japanese

• Consent Form - available in English

Like most medicines, vaccines can sometimes cause reactions. These are usually mild, and not everyone will get them. Mild reactions are normal and shows that your immune system is responding to the vaccine.

• Possible reactions

  the most common reaction to an immunisation includes:

• a slight fever

• pain or swelling where the needle went in.

  other common side effects of the flu vaccine include:

• crying, being upset, and hard to settle (in babies and toddlers)

• loss of appetite

• aches and pains

• headache.

If you’re going to have any reactions, they normally happen in the first few days after getting vaccinated. The vaccine itself is gone from your body within a few hours or days.

Serious side effects are rare. If you have any questions or concerns, talk to your doctor or nurse, or call Healthline for free on 0800 611 116.

Allergic reactions

Serious allergic reactions are extremely rare. Only about 1 in 1 million people will experience this. Your vaccinator is well-trained and knows what to look for and can treat an allergic reaction quickly if it happens. Serious allergic reactions normally happen within the first few minutes of vaccination, this is why you need to wait for up to 20 minutes after immunisation.