Influenza Vaccination Toolkit
The influenza vaccination toolkit includes resources such as training, guidance and campaign materials intended for Ministry of Health officials, WHO staff, vaccinators, health workers, researchers, and other stakeholders involved in strengthening influenza prevention and control.
WHO advises all countries to develop or enhance their national influenza programmes in alignment with the Global Influenza Strategy for 2019-2030, in order to prevent and control seasonal and pandemic influenza. The strategy includes a strong focus on better use of global tools (e.g. vaccines, antivirals, and public health and social measures) and details the roles and responsibilities of national and global stakeholders. This toolkit supports operationalization of the strategy.
To provide feedback on the toolkit or ask questions, please contact [email protected].
Developing or updating the national seasonal influenza vaccination policy
WHO recommends that all countries consider implementing an influenza vaccination programme or include influenza vaccination in their national immunization programme. SAGE recommends countries prioritize seasonal influenza vaccination for health workers, pregnant women, people with comorbidities, older adults, and other populations in line with national priorities and resources.
Key documents that help countries introduce/expand their national seasonal influenza vaccination programme include: a policy brief that outlines how to develop a robust national seasonal influenza vaccination policy, manuals for introduction of seasonal influenza vaccination to health workers and pregnant women, and an overview of seasonal influenza vaccination for decision-makers.
Improving data
Effective seasonal influenza vaccination programmes rely on high-quality and timely data to enable programme review and improvement. Countries collect, analyze, and use seasonal influenza vaccination data to monitor and improve national and sub-national programmes, track vaccine uptake, guide vaccination delivery strategies, address access inequities, and ensure that coverage is maximized and maintained. Countries report annually data on influenza vaccination policies, coverage, and their introduction of seasonal influenza vaccination to their National Immunization Schedule to the WHO-UNICEF Joint Reporting Form on Immunization.
WHO and PAHO have developed resources that support countries collect and use vaccination data. These include an upcoming manual on in monitoring and reporting seasonal influenza, COVID-19, and RSV vaccination coverage; a tool for estimating comorbidities; and an excel-based calculator for estimating the number of seasonal influenza vaccines needed for pregnant women.
Vaccine products and pricing
WHO provides a list of prequalified vaccines and the Market Information for Access to Vaccines (MI4A) database on vaccine products and pricing, include for seasonal influenza. The MI4A data is updated annually; it provides information on pricing by product as well as by procurement mechanism.
Frequently Asked Questions: Transitioning to trivalent seasonal influenza Vaccines
Acceptance and demand
Countries need to understand and address barriers to vaccination. WHO is developing a package of quantitative and qualitative tools to support countries in measuring the behavioural and social drivers (BeSD) of influenza vaccination. Building from the existing BeSD resources for childhood and COVID-19 vaccination, the influenza vaccination package is anticipated to be published in Q2 2025.
Programme review
The Facilitated Assessment: Influenza Vaccination Programmes Review (FAIR) tool helps countries identify enablers, barriers and opportunities to strengthen their national seasonal influenza vaccination programmes. Countries that are using the FAIR tool are recommended to assess the maturity of their national seasonal influenza vaccination programme. Following completion of the nine focus areas, each area can be scored by selecting the appropriate level. This process can help the country to identify key areas of focus and potential priorities to strengthen the national programme. The priorities and actions should be agreed to by the workshop participants and included in the summary report from the FAIR workshop. The maturity matrix can also be used outside the FAIR workshop process by interested countries.
Advocacy and campaign materials
Advocacy is critical to develop and maintain sustainable influenza vaccination programmes. WHO has developed short public-facing videos: Influenza vaccination saves lives, Influenza vaccination – a platform for pandemic preparedness, and WHO's Science in 5 - Flu season is here: are you ready? How flu vaccines are made.
In addition, WHO has social media and other advocacy materials to support seasonal influenza vaccination campaigns: Multimedia
Training materials
WHO developed a brief online course that provides information on seasonal influenza prevention and control. This course was recognized as one of the most popular OpenWHO trainings and is available in multiple languages: OpenWHO.org - Seasonal influenza
WHO has also developed curriculum materials for government and health worker trainings on seasonal influenza vaccination. These materials are currently available in English, Portuguese, and Russian. Additional language versions are anticipated to become available.
Developing evidence for seasonal influenza vaccination
Countries can estimate the disease burden and the economic burden associated with seasonal influenza, conduct cost-effectiveness analyses to determine the value of influenza vaccination, and estimate the number of hospitalizations and deaths that can be prevented by implementing seasonal influenza vaccination. Countries can conduct these studies at the sub-national or national levels and can also use data from other countries with similar contexts to inform decision making.
Influenza around the World
WHO regions and partners have developed resources to support countries in strengthening seasonal influenza vaccination. Regional campaigns include: Vaccination Week in the Americas 2024 - PAHO/WHO | Pan American Health Organization and Preventing a triple threat this autumn and winter - applying lessons and understanding individual risk to protect ourselves and others from respiratory illness.
Good practices and recent publications
WHO documents seasonal influenza vaccination good practices to enable countries around the world to learn from each other. Examples include introduction of pharmacy based influenza vaccination, vignettes explaining how national seasonal influenza health worker vaccination programmes were leveraged during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how seasonal influenza vaccination supports pandemic preparedness.
Recent publications that highlight the global production capacity of seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines, next generation influenza vaccine candidates, the landscape of influenza vaccination policies, seasonal influenza vaccination as a foundation for COVID-19 vaccine introduction, and status of seasonal influenza vaccination in the Region of the Americas as well as the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
