The local deals will see GPs paid £5.25 per jab in line with the terms originally offered by NHS Employers and rejected by the GPC.

The DoH has confirmed that children under five will require just one dose of the vaccine to acquire immunity against the virus.

As a token of NHS London's recognition of the particular pressures being experienced by practices in London at this time, each practice will in addition receive purely notional flat-rated payments for agreeing the service be delivered to its under-fives, and for achieving uptake levels of 25% and 40%.

Speaking at a briefing in London today, Ian Dalton, the director for flu resilience in England, said that a number of similar negotiations were taking place across England.

‘I would expect many more agreements to allow GPs to deliver the programme.

‘GPs recognise the clinical importance of administering the jab to children under five.

‘Some GPs are already vaccinating children. Some practices have been vaccinating children opportunistically when they come in with their parents.'

Mr Dalton added that uptake of the jab continues to be high among healthcare workers with 308,000 doses so far administered to front line workers.