Overview

• The UKHSA and NHS urged parents to check records and book catch‑up jabs before school starts, citing an urgent risk from vaccine‑preventable diseases.
• New 2024/25 data show 18.6% of children who turned five have not had the pre‑school booster that protects against polio, whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria.
• Only 83.7% of children had received two MMR doses by age five, well below the WHO’s 95% goal, with no main childhood vaccine meeting the target last year.
• Measles cases reached 742 lab‑confirmed infections in England this year as of August 18, with recent increases mainly in London and the North West and a child death reported in Liverpool earlier in the year.
• Coverage varies sharply by area, with Cumbria at about 94% for MMR and the pre‑school booster, Liverpool around 75% MMR, and some places like Southampton and Bolton improving yet still short of 95%; the NHS plans to add a free chickenpox vaccine to the routine schedule from January 2026.