CHILDHOOD vaccination rates have fallen for the fifth year in a row, NHS figures show.
Coverage in England is below the safe 95 per cent target for every available jab.
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Parents’ failure to get their kids immunised is putting classrooms at risk of deadly diseases that have been off the radar for decades.
Uptake of the MMR jab for measles, mumps and rubella is at a shocking 15-year low.
Free NHS vaccines are also offered to protect youngsters from whooping cough, polio, meningitis, tetanus, diphtheria, rotavirus, hepatitis B and flu.
NHS England’s vaccination director, Steve Russell, said: “Too many children are still not fully vaccinated against diseases which cause serious illness but are preventable.”
Health chiefs reckon parents are either not bothering to have young ones vaccinated or being spooked by fake news about jabs that is spread online.
Dr Helen Stewart, of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “Vaccine hesitancy may be an issue in some instances, but evidence shows that accessibility and availability of health appointments plays a huge role in low uptake.”
It only takes one case of measles in an unprotected school or nursery for numbers to suddenly surge
Dr Vanessa Saliba
Most jabs are given between the ages of eight weeks and one year old.
NHS figures for England show uptake of the six-in-one vaccine fell from 94 per cent in 2020 to 92 per cent in 2023.
For MMR it has dropped from 93 per cent in 2013 to 89 per cent for two-year-olds and 16 per cent are not fully vaccinated by age five – the lowest for 15 years.
England has had unusual outbreaks of whooping cough and measles in the past two years and in 2022 traces of polio were found in London’s sewers for the first time in decades.
Vaccine uptake is lowest in the capital.
The life-saving vaccines you need at every age
EIGHT WEEKS
- 6-in-1 vaccine
- Rotavirus vaccine
- MenB vaccine
12 WEEKS
- 6-in-1 vaccine (2nd dose)
- Pneumococcal vaccine
- Rotavirus vaccine (2nd dose)
16 WEEKS
- 6-in-1 vaccine (3rd dose)
- MenB vaccine (2nd dose)
ONE YEAR
- Hib/MenC vaccine (1st dose)
- MMR vaccine (1st dose)
- Pneumococcal vaccine (2nd dose)
- MenB vaccine (3rd dose)
TWO TO 15 YEARS
- Children’s flu vaccine (every year until children finish Year 11 of secondary school)
THREE YEARS AND FOUR MONTHS
- MMR vaccine (2nd dose)
- 4-in-1 pre-school booster vaccine
12 TO 13 YEARS
14 YEARS
- 3-in-1 teenage booster vaccine
- MenACWY vaccine
65 YEARS
- Flu vaccine (given every year after turning 65)
- Pneumococcal vaccine
- Shingles vaccine (if you turned 65 on or after 1 September 2023)
70 to 79 YEARS
Source: The NHS
Vaccines ‘prevent thousands of deaths’
The NHS estimates that jabs prevent more than 5,000 deaths and 100,000 hospital admissions each year in England.
Dr Vanessa Saliba, of the UK Health Security Agency, said: “Childhood vaccines prevent babies and children from suffering needlessly and can be life-saving.
“It only takes one case of measles to get into a school or nursery where many children are unprotected for numbers to suddenly surge.
“It’s never too late to catch up.”
Steve Russell added: “Vaccinations have been protecting children for decades.”
Public Health Minister Andrew Gwynne said: “Vaccines are our best form of protection against serious illness.
“I urge all parents to take up vaccinations to keep children safe as they return to the classroom or nursery this autumn.”
MMR VACCINATION RATES BY AREA
NHS figures reveal which local areas have the highest and lowest uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine at age five.
