Why is vaccination for target populations plummeting in the UK? Share your insights!

As a group of leading UK health experts launches a new Commission on Access to Vaccines to understand why access levels are falling across the UK, Applied Microbiology International is calling on members to share their insights on childhood vaccinations.

The Commission on Access to Vaccines - a collaborative working project between the Royal Society of Public Health and Pfizer Ltd was announced as vaccination for target populations fell far below the threshold needed for population protection for some diseases, a major contributing factor in the recent measles outbreak in parts of London and the West Midlands which has led to over a hundred confirmed cases and a number of hospitalisations.

Coverage of the two doses of the MMR vaccine is at the lowest level since 2009-10 and well below the target set by the World Health Organisation.

Declining coverage of flu vaccines is also partially behind the large spike in hospitalisations during the winter flu season which puts immense annual pressure on the NHS. Last winter only 69% of the population over 65 and 41% of those in clinical risk groups in England received flu vaccination, leaving a considerable number of people more vulnerable to respiratory complications.

READ MORE: Health experts from a new Commission call for a step change in vaccine access as coverage falls and potentially preventable outbreaks return

Meanwhile, the House of Lords Childhood Vaccinations Committee has announced a call for evidence for an inquiry to examine childhood vaccination in England and AMI is calling on its members to share their expertise and insights.

Even though this is a UK-based inquiry, AMI encourages international input – if you have any experience that could be translated to the UK setting we would love to hear from you. This is particularly the case for Questions 1 and 2 below. 

Decline in coverage

”The UK Government wants to understand what the evidence is on routine childhood vaccination coverage in England; why there has been a gradual decline in coverage over the past decade and what the Government should do to reverse this decline and reduce disparities in childhood vaccination coverage,” said AMI Policy and Diversity Manager Daisy Neale.

”Though it focuses on routine childhood vaccinations from infants to those aged 18, it invites evidence on other vaccination programmes if deemed helpful for understanding how childhood vaccination coverage could be improved. 

“Additionally, though the inquiry focuses on England, it welcomes evidence on childhood vaccination in other countries in way of comparison, particularly for the first two questions shown below. ”

Share your insight

AMI has pulled out the questions we think are of most relevance to our members below - however please feel free to review the entire question list here and provide answers to any you wish to (there are 18 total). Responses can be brief and bullet points are welcome. 

We are particularly interested in evidence-based insights, examples, or your thoughts and experiences on any of the following:  

1. To what extent does England face similar challenges with declining childhood vaccination coverage to Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and/or other comparable countries? 

2. What can the UK Government learn about improving childhood vaccination coverage in England from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and/or other comparable countries? 

3. What is the influence of the media environment on childhood vaccination coverage? What would be the best ways to support confidence and to address misinformation and disinformation about childhood vaccination in the media environment? 

4.  What other key barriers are there to improving childhood vaccination coverage and reducing disparities? What would be the best ways to address them? 

The call for evidence is open until 23:59pm on 22 April 2026. To submit your responses, please email our Policy team HERE.