Statistics published for all routine childhood vaccinations in England in 2021-22: statistical press release

29 Sep 2022 12:41 PM

Coverage for all routine childhood vaccinations administered to children under five in England in 2021-22 has been published today.

Statistics published for all routine childhood vaccinations in England in 2021-22: statistical press release

• Coverage decreased in 13 out of the 14 routine vaccination measures in 2021-22
• No vaccinations met the 95% target set by the World Health Organization (WHO)

Coverage for all routine childhood vaccinations administered to children under five in England in 2021-22 has been published today.

NHS Digital’s Childhood Vaccination Coverage Statistics contains information on the routine vaccinations offered to all children up to the age of 5 years, derived from the Cover of vaccination evaluated rapidly (COVER) programme.

This report, which is co-authored with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), includes information on 14 measures of vaccination coverage. At a national level, coverage has decreased for 13 of these.

The only vaccination where coverage has increased is Pneumococcal Disease (PCV) primary, but this is a comparison with 2019-20’s figures, as 2020-21 data is not available.

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

Chris Roebuck, NHS Digital’s Chief Statistician, said:

“We publish these statistics to help inform the development and evaluation of government policy on immunisation.

“The annual report is also used to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine programme at a local, regional and national level.”

Click here for the full press release