City records highest rate of MMR baby jabs
The proportion of babies vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella has increased in Sunderland – remaining above the level needed for herd immunity.
Despite an increase in MMR vaccination rates nationally, the British Society for Immunology warned that the level was still below the 95% target and could mean diseases spreading to vulnerable, unvaccinated people.
Figures from NHS Digital show 97.6% of babies in the city received the first dose of the MMR vaccination by their second birthday in 2019-20 – the highest rate in the country.
This was an increase on the 95.3% the year before, but means that 69 babies were not inoculated this year.
Nationally, the proportion of children having their first dose of the jab increased from 90.3% in 2018-19 to 90.6% in 2019-20 – still well below the 95% needed for herd immunity.
This is the first time in six years that MMR coverage nationwide has increased, following a peak of 92.7% in 2013-14.
Vaccination rates fell and measles rates began to rise following a – later discredited – study in 1998 claiming the jabs were unsafe.
Dr Doug Brown, chief executive of the British Society for Immunology, welcomed the “small increase in uptake” but added: "It is a step in the right direction but we must still take urgent action to overcome the ongoing trend of missing the 95% target set out by the World Health Organisation.
“Low levels of vaccination coverage matter. It means diseases such as measles have the potential to spread, infecting unvaccinated people, including vulnerable individuals.
In Sunderland, 94.5% of children had received both doses of the MMR vaccine before the age of five in 2019-20.