The latest annual COVER data on
childhood vaccines 2025 to March 2026published today by the
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows signs that uptake of key
vaccines offered as part of the NHS
childhood vaccination schedule by age 5 (prior to starting
primary school) are stabilising after a decade of slow decline
across all vaccines in England.
However, UKHSA is today warning that despite these signs current
uptake rates are still well below the World Health Organization
(WHO) 95% target and uptake for children measured at age one and
age two has decreased again for all vaccines. High uptake is
needed to prevent outbreaks and the spread of serious infections,
including measles, which is highly infectious particularly in
closed environments like schools.
UKHSA is reminding parents that getting their children vaccinated
at the right time is essential to protect them when they are most
vulnerable and ensure they are ready to thrive when starting
nursery and school.
Today's figures show that for children starting primary school
uptake rates for vaccines such as MMR and the 6 -in-1
(which includes diphtheria, whooping cough and polio) have
remained stable for the past 3 years:
- 2 doses of MMR vaccine measured at 5 years of age: 83.8% in
past year (2025-26); 83.7% in 2024-25; and 83.9% in 2023-24.
- 6-in-1 vaccine measured at 5 years: 92.9% last year; 92.8% in
24-25 and 92.6% in 23-24.
The stabilising of vaccine uptake measured at 5 years will partly
be due to NHS catch up activity in the past year alongside other
factors. In addition, a further government childhood vaccinations
campaign, launched in February 2026, developed with support
from NHS England and UKHSA, aims to reverse the decline in
uptake by providing clear, trusted information and making it
easier than ever for families to access vaccines.
The lowest vaccine uptake rate remains the 4-in-1 pre-school
booster (offered from 3 years 4 months) to ensure children have
topped up their protection for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping
cough and polio before starting primary school. However, there
has been a 0.6% increase on the previous year from 81.3% to 81.9%
for 2025 to 2026, but it is too early to say if this is a sign of
an upward trend.
Compared with many other countries the UK has a comprehensive and
successful NHS childhood vaccination programme, but the slow
decline in uptake over the past decade means that none of the
vaccines in the schedule now meet the WHO 95% target. Even with
an uptake rate of around 90% it still means every year thousands
of children are left unprotected and this accumulates year on
year, leaving hundreds of thousands of school children at risk of
serious disease.
Dr Mary Ramsay, Director of Immunisation at UK Health Security
Agency, said:
It is encouraging that we are seeing some signs of the childhood
vaccination programme stabilising, but we have a long way to go
before all children are fully protected at the right time when
they are most vulnerable to a number of serious diseases.
Parents want to do what is best for their children and most do
have trust in NHS childhood vaccines, which prevent tens of
thousands ending up in hospital every year. We have now largely
forgotten how many young lives were lost to diseases like measles
and diphtheria before we had these vaccines.
No child today in this country should have to suffer a disease
that is so easily preventable. Parents should check their
children are up to date with all their vaccines and, if not,
contact your GP practice as soon as possible. It's never too late
to catch up with most childhood vaccines.
Vaccines are offered free on the NHS, starting from 8 weeks old,
with boosters and additional doses throughout childhood and
adolescence. If your child has missed any, catch-up appointments
are available through GPs and school programmes.
From 1 January this year, the NHS rolled out the addition of a
vaccine to the routine childhood programme to protect against
chickenpox. The combined MMRV vaccination provides additional
protection against chickenpox with 2 doses providing long-lasting
protection again 4 serious diseases: measles, mumps, rubella and
chicken pox (also known as varicella).
Today's figures reflect the efforts undertaken by NHS England and
regional ICS teams, who have
continued the drive to encourage parents to vaccinate their
children by making it easier - including hosting extra clinics,
catch up opportunities in schools and localised outreach projects
to target low uptake areas across the country.
Childhood vaccination coverage varies significantly
geographically and continues to be lowest for all the uptake
indicators in London.
Latest data on vaccine-preventable diseases
is available on the UKHSA Dashboard.
More information on vaccinations is available at nhs.uk/vaccinations.
