Statistics published for all routine childhood vaccinations in England in 2021-22: statistical press release
Coverage1 for all routine childhood vaccinations2 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 measures3 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.4 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.”
In 2021-22, 89.2% of children at 24 months had completed their first dose of the MMR vaccine, which is a decrease from 90.3% in 2020-21. The World Health Organization (WHO) target is 95%. Regional data5 shows seven of the nine regions reached 90% coverage. No region exceeded the 95% target. The North East had the highest level of coverage at 94.5% (down from 95.3% the previous year). London had the lowest level of coverage in 2021-22 at 79.9% (down from 82.4% in 2020-21). In 2021-22, 16 local authorities out of 149 had coverage levels of 95% and above. Coverage of less than 90% was reported for 61 local authorities including all London authorities. In 2021-22, 85.7% of children received their 2nd dose of MMR vaccine (MMR2) by their 5th birthday, a decrease from 86.6% in the previous year.
Coverage for the 6-in-1/5-in-1 vaccine, which protects against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, disease caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b and hepatitis B, decreased among children aged 12 months, 24 months and five years. In 2021-22, 91.8% of children were reported to have completed their primary course of 3 doses of the 6-in-1 at 12 months. This is a decrease from 2020-21 when coverage was 92.0%. In 2021-22, 8 out of 9 regions reached 90% coverage for the 6-in-1 vaccine. The North East was the only region to exceed the national target of 95% and London had the lowest coverage at 86.5%. Among children aged 24 months, coverage of the 6-in-1 vaccine fell from 93.8% in 2020-21 to 93.0% in 2021-22. For children aged five years, coverage for the 5-in-1 vaccine was 94.4% in 2021-22. This is lower than the 95.2% coverage reported in 2020-21.
The report also includes coverage data for the pneumococcal disease (PCV), rotavirus, meningococcal group B (MenB)7, Hib booster and meningococcal group C vaccine (Hib/MenC) and children’s flu vaccines.
List of vaccinations, ages at which coverage is measured and coverage for past three years:
* From 2019-20, for the 12-month cohort, coverage is evaluated against the 6-in-1 hexavalent vaccine. From 2020-21, for the 24-month cohort, coverage is evaluated against the 6-in-1 hexavalent vaccine. Other measures reflect coverage for the 5-in-1 pentavalent vaccine (DTAP/IPV/Hib). ** Since January 2020, PCV primary course (at 12 months) changed to a single vaccination at age 12 weeks. Prior to that it was 2 doses at ages 8 and 16 weeks. Read the full report |
- Coverage is defined as the number of persons immunised as a proportion of the eligible population. The formula for the calculation of coverage is: (Total number of eligible persons immunised / Total number of persons in eligible population) x 100.
- Vaccinations measured at 12 months, 24 months or 5 years in England in 2021-22, compared to the previous year. Some vaccinations have their coverage measured at all of these ages while others are just measured at one or two of them.
- Data on 14 routine childhood vaccination measurements is included in this report; these measurements relate to 10 vaccinations. In addition, data are published for two selective neonatal vaccination programmes (BCG and hepatitis B) and flu.
- This is most likely to be seen in the 12 and 24 month cohorts, where some children would have been scheduled to receive their routine childhood immunisations from March 2020 onwards. Children in the 24 month cohort and 5 year old cohort, their vaccines would have been scheduled to be given before the COVID-19 pandemic started. However, some children who may have missed out on receiving routine immunisations at the scheduled time and otherwise would have caught up by their 2nd or 5th birthday, may also have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic from late March 2020 onwards. The MMR vaccine was introduced in 1988 and the highest level of coverage at 24 months was 92.7% in 2013-14. The lowest was in 2003-04 when coverage was 79.9%.
- The nine regions are: North East, North West, Yorkshire & Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West.
- In September 2017, the 5-in-1 vaccine was replaced with a 6-in-1 vaccine, adding protection against hepatitis B for all babies born after 1 August 2017.
a) Any children born or vaccinated in 2018-19 would have received the 6-in-1. This represents the 12-month cohort in the 2019-20 report.
b) Any children vaccinated in 2017-18 will have received either the 5-in-1 vaccine or the 6-in-1 vaccine, depending on when in the year they were vaccinated. For the purposes of this report, children receiving either of these vaccinations will be included within the 5-in-1 numbers. This change mainly affects the 24-month cohort who were all born in 2017-18, it does not significantly impact the five-year age cohorts as most of these children will have been vaccinated prior to the introduction of the 6-in-1 vaccine. - Meningococcal group B (MenB) vaccine was introduced into the routine immunisation programme in September 2015 and is offered at 8 and 16 weeks of age with a booster after the first birthday.
- Further information on vaccinations is available on the NHS website.