1 Summary

• A total of 103,577 COVID-19 vaccinations were administered during the Autumn COVID-19 vaccination campaign which commenced on 01 September 2025 and ended on 31 January 2026.
• Uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations was highest in care home residents.
• Vaccine uptake was highest in Ards and North Down Local Government District (LGD) in eligible adult cohorts reported by LGD; 75 years and over and individuals aged 18-74 years who were immunosuppressed. Vaccine uptake was lowest in Mid Ulster for the same eligible groups.
• Vaccine uptake in Autumn 2025 was lower compared to previous Autumn campaigns.

2 COVID-19 Autumn 2025 Vaccination Campaign

The COVID-19 Autumn vaccination campaign commenced in Northern Ireland on 01 September 2025 and ended on 31 January 2026. The campaign was delivered by a number of providers including general practitioners (GP), community pharmacy and Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts. The total number of vaccinations administered during the campaign was 103,577. COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Autumn 2025 was highest in care home residents at 67.7% (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1: COVID-19 Autumn vaccination uptake by eligible group in Northern Ireland, 2025.

3 Vaccine uptake in eligible groups

Vaccine uptake has declined in care home residents and individuals aged 75 years and over since the COVID-19 vaccination programme transitioned into targeted Spring and Autumn campaigns, the first of which was Spring 2022. Although vaccine uptake has remained highest in care home residents across all seasonal campaigns to date, uptake has declined from 82.3% in Spring 2022 to 67.7% in Autumn 2025. Uptake in individuals aged 75 years and over has fluctuated over time with uptake lower in Spring campaigns compared to Autumn. Overall uptake within this group has declined from 78.8% in Spring 2022 to 56.7% in Autumn 2025. Individuals aged 18-74 years ‘immunosuppressed’ were offered COVID-19 vaccination during Spring campaigns from Spring 2024 and Autumn campaigns from Autumn 2025. Vaccine uptake in individuals aged 18-74 years ’immunosuppressed’ increased from 19.7% in Spring 2025 to 39.8% in Autumn 2025. Recording of ‘immunosuppressed’ eligibility criteria has improved since Spring 2025 (Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.1: COVID-19 Autumn vaccination uptake in eligible groups in Northern Ireland, Spring 2022 to Autumn 2025.

3.1 75 years and over

3.1.1 75 years and over by Local Government District

Vaccine uptake in individuals aged 75 years and over varied by LGD. Vaccine uptake was highest in Ards and North Down (73.1%). Vaccine uptake was lowest in Mid Ulster (36%) (Figure 3.2).

Figure 3.2: COVID-19 Autumn vaccination uptake in individuals aged 75 years and older by Local Government District in Northern Ireland, 2025.

3.1.2 75 years and over by age band

Vaccine uptake in individuals aged 75 years and over improved with increasing age. Vaccine uptake increased from 50.6% in those aged 75-79 years to 61.5% in those aged 80 years and over (Figure 3.3).

Figure 3.3: COVID-19 Autumn vaccination uptake in individuals aged 75 years and older by age band in Northern Ireland, 2025.

3.2 18-74 years immunosuppressed

3.2.1 18-74 years immunosuppressed by Local Government District

Vaccine uptake in individuals aged 18-74 years who were immunosuppressed was highest in Ards and North Down at 56.6% and lowest in Mid Ulster at 26.3% (Figure 3.4).

Figure 3.4: COVID-19 Autumn vaccination uptake in individuals aged 18 to 74 years who were immunosuppressed by Local Government District in Northern Ireland, 2025.

3.2.2 18-74 years immunosuppressed by age band

Vaccine uptake in individuals aged 18-74 years who were immunosuppressed improved with increasing age. Vaccine uptake increased from 17.2% in those aged 18-24 years to 73.9% in those aged 70-74 years (Figure 3.5).

Figure 3.5: COVID-19 Autumn vaccination uptake in individuals aged 18 to 74 years who were immunosuppressed by age band in Northern Ireland, 2025.

3.3 Care Home residents

Vaccine uptake in care home residents differed across HSC Trust area (location of the care home). Vaccine uptake was highest in Belfast HSC Trust (BHSCT) at 74.7%. Vaccine uptake in care home residents was lowest in Southern HSC Trust (SHSCT) and Western HSC Trust (WHSCT), 61.7% and 61.2%, respectively (Figure 3.6).

Figure 3.6: COVID-19 Autumn vaccination uptake in care home residents by Trust in Northern Ireland, 2025.

4 Eligibility for vaccinations

The Green Book is published by UK Health Security Agency and provides information for public health professionals on immunisation, including COVID-19 vaccination (The Green Book | Immunisation againist infectious disease). Considering this advice and that of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the Chief Medical Officer in Northern Ireland issues a letter for the COVID-19 vaccination campaign outlining who is eligible for vaccination under the current programme. For more information on the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Northern Ireland, including eligibility for vaccination, please visit Health NI | Autumn 2025 COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign.

5 Methods

All vaccinations were recorded on the Northern Ireland Vaccine Management System (VMS).

Data was provisional and accurate at the time of extraction. Data lags exist between data of administration of the vaccine and date of recording on VMS.

Eligible groups are not mutually exclusive and individuals may be counted in more than one group. Individuals may have more than one eligibility criteria for vaccination, however, most will only have one reason for vaccination recorded on VMS. This will impact estimates of vaccine uptake.

6 Supplementary tables

Table 1: Number of COVID-19 Autumn vaccinations and cumulative vaccination uptake by eligible group in Northern Ireland, 2025.

Table 2: Number of COVID-19 vaccinations and cumulative vaccination uptake in eligible groups in Northern Ireland, Spring 2022 to Autumn 2025.

Table 3: Number of COVID-19 Autumn vaccinations and cumulative vaccination uptake in individuals aged 75 years and over by Local Government District in Northern Ireland, 2025.

Table 4: Number of COVID-19 Autumn vaccinations and cumulative vaccination uptake in individuals aged 75 years and over by age band in Northern Ireland, 2025.

Table 5: Number of COVID-19 Autumn vaccinations and cumulative vaccination uptake in individuals aged 18 to 74 years who were immunosuppressed by Local Government District in Northern Ireland, 2025.

Table 6: Number of COVID-19 Autumn vaccinations and cumulative vaccination uptake in individuals aged 18 to 74 years who were immunosuppressed by age band in Northern Ireland, 2025.

Table 7: Number of COVID-19 Autumn vaccinations and cumulative vaccination uptake in care home residents by Trust in Northern Ireland, 2025.