Action to maximise childhood vaccination is urgently needed

Changes to the UK’s childhood vaccination schedule over the past three decades have seen both a wider range of vaccines offered and overall improvements in vaccine coverage. In 1988, when the single antigen measles vaccine was replaced with the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, uptake was only just above 70% for 2 year old children in England and Wales,2 with 16 deaths from measles reported in that year alone.3 Today’s preschool children are routinely offered protection against 14 potentially serious infections with further vaccines offered to teenagers.1

Overall uptake rates had improved significantly in the UK, with highs of over 90% for the primary vaccines at 12 months and first dose MMR vaccine at 24 months up to 2012-13. However, the 2022-23 childhood vaccine figures show a continuing and concerning downward trend that began before the pandemic.1 For example, the 85.2% coverage for two doses of MMR vaccine among 5 year olds is well below the 95% target required for population immunity; this target has never been met and uptake peaked in England in 2014-15 at 88.6%.1 …