NHS England meets WHO vaccination targets for childhood diseases

Vaccination targets for five childhood diseases, set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), have been met my NHS England for the tenth consecutive year.

A new report by NHS Digital and Public Health England reveals that at least 95% of children have received the recommended combined vaccine for diphtheria, whooping cough (pertussis), tetanus, polio and Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) by the age of five.

The Childhood Vaccination Coverage Statistics report shows that the 95% target set by the WHO has been met every year since 2011-12.

The North East of England saw the highest vaccine rate where 97.2% of children had received the five recommended vaccines by the age of five. London was the only region not to reach the target, with a 91.2% vaccine rate for five-year-olds in 2020-21.

The 95% target for five-year-olds receiving the first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine was also achieved in every region in England apart from London and the West Midlands in 2020-21.

Whilst the figures are largely positive, the overall vaccination rate across England for the first dose of the MMR vaccine feel from 94.5% in 2019-2020, to 94.3% in 2021.

More so, the MMR vaccination rate for babies at infants at 24 months old sits at 90.3%.

Chris Roebuck, NHS Digital’s chief statistician, said: “We publish these statistics to help inform the development and evaluation of government policy on immunisation.

“The annual report is also used to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine programme at a local, regional and national level.”

The first dose of the vaccine for diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio and Hib is recommended when babies are eight weeks old and is given in a single jab, followed by second and third doses at four-week intervals.

For children born on or after 1 August 2017, the 5-in-1 (pentavalent) vaccine was replaced with a 6-in-1 (hexavalent) vaccine, which also provides protection against hepatitis B. In 2020-21, 92.0% of children had received all three doses by the age of one, compared to 92.6% in 2019-20.

Of the 13 comparable measures for vaccine coverage included in the report, two had increased by up to 0.3%, two had stayed the same and nine had decreased by up to 0.5% compared to 2019-20.