Worrying Vaccine Statistics Alarm Councillors
A new report on Childhood Vaccination Coverage Statistics 2020-21, released by NHS Digital this week, has revealed a worrying drop-off in vaccination rates nationwide. Take-up rates have decreased by 10% - the lowest level for over a decade. Haringey is well behind both the UK and London averages.
--Haringey has the lowest rate of flu vaccine take-up rate for children aged 3+ who have been identified by the NHS as being clinically at risk. These vaccinations for children are usually administered by health professionals through a nasal spray. The average number in England stands at 65.5% and falls further to 56.0% across London. In Haringey, it plummets to just 20.1%.
--Haringey also has an extremely low rate of MMR coverage. Looking at 5-year olds who have had both doses of the MMR vaccine, England has an average of 86.6%, London lags behind the rest of the country on just 75.1%, and Haringey languishes still further behind at just 67.7%. Next-door Camden is even worse at just 59.0%.
Given the usual patterns in Haringey, it would be expected that vaccine take-up in the west of the borough would be much higher than areas such as Wood Green and Tottenham. This would mean that localised figures are likely to be even worse than the headline numbers.
Cllr Justin Hinchcliffe(LD-Fortis Green) who looked through the figures, commented:
"These figures are incredibly grim. The take-up rates for flu and MMR vaccines are really alarming. Haringey Council and the local health authority need to digest these worrying findings and re-double efforts to increase take-up as a matter of urgency to prevent serious long-term health issues for our area's children. This means new and innovative solutions need to be found with our many diverse and transient communities to establish trust, register with GPs and educational campaigns to allay real fear, mistrust and misinformation."
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