Flu vaccination has begun in the Basque Country from October 5th to December 31st

The Directorate of Public Health and Addictions has announced the launch of the 2026-2027 influenza vaccination campaign. Vaccination for the general population began on October 5, and for people living in institutions and residences on September 28. The decision is recorded in the Resolution of September 28 by Director Guillermo Ignacio Herrero Alaña, and was published in issue number 199 of the Boletín Oficial del País Vasco on October 19, 2026, with official reference 2026/4370.

The objective of the campaign is to reduce mortality and the burden of disease associated with influenza, as well as to minimize the impact of the illness within the community. Vaccination is not aimed at the entire population, but rather at specific risk groups, which are based on the agreements reached by the Basque Vaccination Advisory Committee in its meeting on May 5, 2026, and the recommendations of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System, the latter having been approved by the Public Health Committee.

The preparations used are trivalent and tetravalent, and will be administered according to the technical sheet of each. The composition is adapted to the recommendations of the Public Health Committee.

Risk groups from young children to the elderly

The first group specified by the Resolution is the infant population, between 6 and 59 months old, and the second is people aged 60 years or older. Additionally, people between 5 and 59 years old are also recommended to receive the vaccine if there is a higher risk of complications resulting from influenza. These conditions include:

• Diabetes mellitus and Cushing’s syndrome.
• Morbid obesity, when the body mass index in adults is 40 or higher.
• Chronic cardiovascular, neurological, or respiratory diseases, including asthma, cystic fibrosis, and bronchodyplasia.
• Chronic kidney disease and nephrotic syndrome.
• Hemoglobinopathies, severe anemias, hemophilia, and coagulation disorders.
• Asplenia or severe splenic dysfunction.
• Chronic liver disease, including alcoholism.
• Severe neuromuscular diseases and immunodeficiency, including transplant recipients and CAR-T therapy.
• Cancer and malignant hemopathies.
• Cerebrospinal fluid fistula and cochlear implants.
• Chronic inflammatory diseases and disorders causing cognitive dysfunction, such as Down syndrome and dementias.
• People between 5 and 18 years old who have received long-term treatment with acetylsalicylic acid, due to the risk of Reye syndrome.
• People with eating disorders and celiac disease.

Residences, health workers, and essential services

The resolution also includes other collectives, whether due to exposure or contact. People over 5 years of age living in disability care centers, nursing homes, and closed institutions are on the front line. Workers and interns in public and private health and public health centers will also be vaccinated, as well as workers in clinics, juvenile centers, and pharmacy offices, and workers in nurseries and early childhood education centers (0-5 years).

Caregivers and cohabitants of patients in risk groups are also recommended to get the vaccine, including primary caregivers of children under 6 months. People with direct occupational exposure to animals or their secretions—livestock farmers, veterinarians, farm workers, hunters, ornithologists, environmental agents, and zoo workers—are also included, to prevent recombination between human and avian or swine viruses. Finally, essential service workers—security forces, army, firefighters, and civil protection—and pregnant women, in any trimester of pregnancy, and women up to six months postpartum.

Calendar, legal basis, and appeal

The first point of the resolution sets October 5 as the start date of the campaign, and the second establishes that it ends on December 31, provided that epidemiological reasons justify a change. Vaccination in residences, however, began on September 28.

Regarding the legal basis, the resolution mentions the Order of October 18, 2017, which approves the official vaccination calendar of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, and Decree 319/2024, of October 29, which establishes the organic and functional structure of the Department of Health. The latter assigns the directorate the prevention of diseases and health promotion through programs.

An appeal against the resolution may be filed before the Undersecretary of Health and Digital Transition, within a period of one month, starting from the day following its publication in the BOPV gazette.

The campaign will end on December 31, but the evolution of the flu may condition the extension or shortening of the calendar. The list of risk groups is broad, showing that protection is not only aimed at the elderly: young people with chronic diseases, pregnant women, caregivers, and essential service workers are also included. Vaccination, therefore, is one of the main axes of the collective strategy against winter respiratory infections, and the Department of Health calls on the population to respect the turn corresponding to each group.

Fuente: Boletín Oficial del País Vasco, n.º 199, 19 de octubre de 2026, Otras Disposiciones, orr. 1-3 (official reference: 2026/4370).