UK Faces Measles Outbreak as Vaccination Rates Drop

Over 3.4 million children under 16 are unvaccinated, prompting the UK government to launch a new vaccination campaign.

Over 200 children have been diagnosed with measles in England and Wales in the last four weeks of 2023, leading the UK Health Security Agency to declare a national incident.
Approximately 25% of children in parts of London enter school unvaccinated, and NHS England data suggests that more than 3.4 million children under 16 across the country are unvaccinated.
Scotland has managed to maintain high vaccination rates, with 95.9% of children having one dose by the time they were five years old, and 89.7% having two doses.
Researchers suggest that Scotland’s increase in vaccination rates during the Covid-19 pandemic may have been linked to flexible working for parents and mobile vaccination centres.
The UK government has announced a vaccination campaign in England, recruiting teachers, GPs, and community leaders to promote vaccination, and rolling out pop-up vaccination centres in convenient locations such as schools.