Vaccinations ‘should be on offer at shops and festivals’

● Attempt to boost immunisation rate would include out-of-hours clinics

Vaccines should be offered in supermarkets, pop-up clinics and at music festivals to help tackle falling immunisation rates, leading experts say.

Before steps are taken to introduce mandatory vaccination, clinics should open at weekends and in the evenings to improve access to important jabs, they said.

The experts said most parents do vaccinate their children but those who do not often have problems attending clinics or simply forget.

Busy family life and needing to take time off work to get children vaccinated are all barriers to people making sure youngsters are up-todate, they added.

The experts played down the role of anti-vaccination groups on social media, saying trust in social media was generally low in the UK, while confidence in doctors and nurses was high.

Helen Bedford, professor of children’s health at University College London, said there was an urgent need to look at all the barriers that prevent vaccination.

She said some groups are more likely to miss out on vaccines, such as children in care, those from traveller families and some immigrant groups.

“What we know is that most people that are under-immunised, it’s about difficulty accessing services,” she said.

Helen Donovan, professional lead for public health at the Royal College of Nursing, said vaccinations could be given in places such as children’s centres or nurseries.

“Even within general practice it’s about having a flexible system,” she said.

“[We need] more evening surgeries and weekend surgeries so working parents don’t have to take time off to get their youngsters vaccinated.

“Most working parents... the idea of taking your child to a clinic in the middle of the day is very difficult because one or the other parent needs to take the time off work.

David Elliman, consultant community paediatrician at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, said he was in favour of clinics being set up in places such as music festivals.

“I do think it would be a good idea,” he said. “Set up a Portakabin. Anyone who wants an MMR, come and have it.”

“[We need] more evening surgeries and weekend surgeries so working parents don’t have to take time off to get their youngsters vaccinated”