Childhood immunisation rates in London face a steady but significant decline, new Department of Health figures show.
Across the capital, the percentage of five-year-olds receiving both doses of the MMR vaccine has fallen from 80.7% ten years ago, to just 73.3% last year.
Yet despite challenges impacting vaccine uptake across the city, Barnet’s vaccine confidence programme has made significant strides to increase uptake in their borough.
A spokesperson for Barnet Council’s public health team said: “Trust is crucial in overcoming fears and misinformation about vaccines.”
The Cover of Vaccination Evaluated Rapidly (COVER) report looked at immunisation uptake at aged one, two and five.
London-wide, the COVER report showed that number of two-year-olds receiving their first MMR jab has fallen from 87.5% in 2013-2014 to just 81.8% in 2023-2024.
Through the Vaccine Confidence Fund, Barnet Council sent health ambassadors into communities to understand why there is reducing vaccine uptake levels.
A Barnet Council spokesperson concluded that vaccine hesitancy was caused by distrust in authorities and official bodies, and misinformation shared within communities.
The spokesperson said: “Direct feedback from community members suggests that hesitancy among certain groups can stem from a lack of trust in authority and government bodies, leading to a reliance on information shared via social networks and other platforms that do not come from reliable health sources.”
Another complication is London’s status as a global city.
This has created a highly mobile population, meaning the maintenance of consistent healthcare records and vaccination schedules for children is significantly harder, which is exacerbated by difficulty accessing GP appointments.
Consequently, an increasing number of children across London have not received their booster or second doses of MMR and Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, Pertussis (DTPP) vaccines.
According the data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the majority of measles cases in the UK were in children aged 10 years and under.
Dr Vanessa Saliba, UKHSA Consultant Epidemiologist, said: “We know some communities in London have very low MMR vaccination rates.
“Measles is extremely infectious, and it only takes one case to get into these communities for this disease to spread rapidly, especially in schools and nurseries.”
However, Barnet is bucking this trend.
Ten years ago, 75.5% of five-year-olds in Barnet had their DTPP booster and this fell to just 68.6% in 2021-2022.
But the council’s strategy is starting to yield results as, in 2023-2024, the number had risen to 71.4% of five-year-olds receiving their DTPP booster, contradicting to the trend across London.
MMR vaccination rates in five year olds has increased from 71.4% in 2021-2022 to 72.9% in 2023-2024.
Barnet Council credited the success of their active approach to low uptake to calling parents of children who have missed vaccinations.
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