UK childhood vaccination rates fall in babies but stabilise at age 5

Vaccination rates to protect babies against severe illness have fallen again in the UK, official data show.1 However, uptake of routine immunisations in children about to start primary school seems to be stabilising after a decade of slowly declining rates.2The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which published the data, said that despite some “encouraging” signs, there was still “a long way to go” to ensure that children of all ages were protected.Overall, vaccination uptake rates in 2025-26 remain below the 95% target set by the World Health Organization to maintain herd immunity. Childhood vaccination rates in England have been in steady decline since 2013-14.3The UKHSA data show that coverage of all vaccines in children aged 12 months fell during the past year.This included a fall 0.9 percentage points to 90.8% in uptake of the six in one vaccine that protects against diphtheria, whooping cough, and polio, and a drop of…