Childhood vaccination uptake has slumped to its lowest in 15 years, putting youngsters at risk of deadly diseases, including measles, as they return to school.
Nearly one in five children starting primary school this year are not fully protected against several serious diseases, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has reported. Uptake of both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab has fallen to its lowest since 2009-10, and only 83.7 per cent of five-year-olds are fully protected.
None of the key childhood vaccines in England reached the 95 per cent uptake target last year, according to figures published on Thursday. Health officials have warned that “far too many children” will be at risk of serious diseases, including measles, polio and whooping cough, when they start school next week.
How did vaccination rates collapse like this?
From measles elimination to resurgence
In 2016, the World Health Organisation declared that measles had been eliminated from the UK. It was a triumph for public health and for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which was introduced by the NHS in 1988, a year when there were 86,001 cases of measles in England and Wales, and 16 deaths. By 2016, this had shrunk to 1,641 cases.
Over the past two years, however, measles has emerged as a significant threat to British children as vaccine uptake has fallen off a cliff. Last year, there were more than 11,000 confirmed cases, and one child died. Health officials are battling to regain the trust of parents and ensure children are vaccinated.
They have faced a similar challenge before: in 1998, Andrew Wakefield published a paper in The Lancet which falsely linked the MMR jab to autism. His results were later found to be fake and fraudulent, and he was struck off the medical register in 2010 for “serious professional misconduct”.
It took years to reverse the damage to MMR vaccination rates, which dropped from 92 per cent to 73 per cent in the aftermath of Wakefield’s paper. Over recent years, rates have declined again.
What do the latest figures show?
Children are vaccinated against 14 different diseases, including polio, measles, tetanus and whooping cough. Uptake of all of these routine childhood inoculations has fallen over the past decade.
The NHS gives babies three doses of a six-in-one vaccine — against diphtheria, hepatitis B, Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b), polio, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) — at eight, 12 and 16 weeks old. They also get pneumococcal (PCV), meningitis B and rotavirus vaccines, and a four-in-one booster, known as DTPP, against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio before they start school.
Children also get two doses of the MMR vaccine, at ages one and three. The latest data shows that only 83.7 per cent of five-year-olds received both doses in 2024-25, down from a peak of 88.2 per cent in 2015-16 and the lowest proportion since 2009-10. Uptake is slightly higher for other vaccines. Some 91.4 per cent of babies got the six-in-one vaccine in 2024-25, but this was still well below the 95 per cent target.
Hackney has the lowest MMR uptake
There is a stark difference in uptake between different areas of England, and London is consistently the worst area for all vaccines. Ninety per cent of five-year-olds in the northeast have had the full MMR vaccination, compared with 70 per cent in London.
Areas in northern England perform the best. Cumbria has the highest MMR vaccine rate, at 94 per cent. Hackney in east London has the lowest rate, at 58 per cent.
Several other large cities also perform badly, including Liverpool, where only 75 per cent of children have had both MMR doses. A child died after contracting measles this year at Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool during an outbreak in the city.
NHS pressures and social media myths
Vaccine uptake has not recovered from the disruption to NHS services caused by Covid-19. Social media myths about vaccines also took off during the pandemic, leading to a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment among parents. Experts have also pointed to cuts in public health funding as overstretched GPs and health visitors lack the resources to ensure that all children are vaccinated.
There is a particular crisis in reaching immigrant groups in urban areas, particularly those whose first language is not English. Uptake is also often low in Muslim communities, a phenomenon linked to the use of pork gelatine in some vaccines, although alternatives are widely available.
Professor Helen Bedford, of the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said: “There are multiple reasons for this decline, but we know that for some parents it is simply because they are not aware when vaccines are due or because it is not always easy making an appointment for vaccination or attending at a time and a place that is convenient for them.”
Dr Ben Kasstan-Dabush, the assistant professor of global health and development at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “The past ten to fifteen years have been characterised by a harsh period of austerity, which generated changes to health and social care and also a punishing socioeconomic reality for families”
How concerned should we be?
The deadly consequences of falling vaccination rates were apparent last year, when measles emerged as a significant threat to British children for the first time since the 1990s. More than 11,000 confirmed cases were recorded, dozens of children were hospitalised, and there were five deaths. More than ten babies also died of whooping cough.
Dr Mary Ramsay, director of immunisation at UKHSA, said: “Far too many children will not be fully protected and safe when starting school and are at risk of serious diseases, such as measles and whooping cough, that have in recent years caused outbreaks. Measles, being the most infectious disease, is the canary in the coalmine and a wake-up call that urgent action is needed to stop the very real risk of other diseases re-emerging.”