Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS Digital’s Childhood Vaccination Coverage Statistics published on 29 September 2022, what recent assessment she had made of the adequacy of the numbers of vaccinations administered to children in 2021-22.

The Childhood Vaccination Coverage Statistics published on 29 September 2022 show that there has been a decline in the coverage of childhood vaccinations in England compared with the previous year and a general downward trend in coverage for most childhood vaccines over the past 5 to 10 years. One vaccine showed an increase, the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning in March 2020 and is likely to have caused some of the decreases in vaccine coverage seen in 2021/22 compared to 2020/21.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in partnership with NHS England and the Department, undertakes a range of actions to improve vaccination coverage for all ages in England. This includes initiatives to improve access to the immunisation programme; communication with the public; data to better identify under-served individuals and populations; and training for healthcare professionals.

There are a range of information leaflets and promotional materials available online about the different vaccination programmes, co-branded with the National Health Service.