MMR jab surge for first time in 6 years

THE proportion of children having their first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab has increased for the first time in six years.

New data from NHS Digital shows that, while coverage is still below the 95 per cent needed for herd immunity,

the proportion having the first dose of the vaccine by age two has risen from 90.3 per cent in 2018/19 to 90.6 per cent in 2019/20.

This is the first time in six years that MMR coverage in England has increased, following a peak of 92.7 per cent in 2013/14.

Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 Lancet study caused vaccination rates to plummet, resulting in a rise in measles.

The findings were later discredited and the General Medical Council (GMC) struck the Bathbased doctor off, ruling he had been “dishonest, irresponsible and showed callous disregard for the distress and pain” of children.

Regional data shows an increase in coverage in six of the nine English regions in 2019/20 compared with the previous year.

Coverage fell in the remaining three regions, NHS Digital said.

The North East had the highest level of coverage at 95.1 per cent and was the only region to exceed the national target of 95 per cent.

London had the lowest level of coverage at 83.6 per cent, but this was up from 83 per cent the previous year.

Across England, 94.5 per cent of children aged five had received the first dose of the MMR vaccine in 2019/20 – the same percentage as the previous year.

In 2019/20, eight out of nine regions achieved 95 per cent coverage. When it comes to other vaccines, coverage aged two for the combined jab to protect against diseases including diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and polio was below the 95 per cent target for the second consecutive year.

But aged one, coverage was up slightly and was up again by age five.

For the meningitis B jab, England coverage at the age of 24 months was 88.7 per cent in 2019/20 – up from 87.8 per cent in 2018/19.

Mr Wakefield’s co-authored 1998 paper suggested a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

An investigation found that it relied on bogus data although Mr Wakefield repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and declined to retract the paper’s findings.

The inquiry uncovered financial and ethical conflicts of interest which led to him being struck off the British medical register in 2010. He later relocated to America, where he has continued to promote his views.