Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has set a target date for the restoration of the UK's measles elimination status.

The Measles and rubella elimination UK strategy outlines the system-wide actions across four key pillars needed to achieve and sustain measles and rubella elimination. The strategy is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-and-rubella-elimination-uk-strategy

Key actions underway include:

• bringing forward the second dose of the measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox (MMRV) vaccine from three years and four months to a new routine appointment for all children at 18 months of age from 1 January 2026;
• incentivising general practitioners (GPs) to administer childhood vaccinations with an additional £2 supplemental fee for each routine childhood immunisation;
• pilot delivering vaccination, including MMRV, in health visits to pre-school children from underserved groups, providing an opportunity for vaccination to families who struggle to access GP vaccinations, aiming to reduce health inequalities; and
• the National Health Service delivering an MMR/V catch-up campaign from June 2026 to March 2027 targeting unvaccinated children aged 12 months to 11 years.

There is no set timeline for re-establishing elimination status. Achieving this remains a long-term strategic goal that will require consistent, sustained effort rather than short-term interventions.

The World Health Organization target is to achieve at least 95% coverage with two doses of the measles (MMR) vaccine to ensure herd immunity and prevent outbreaks.

Provisional uptake date is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childhood-vaccination-coverage-provisional-monthly-data-for-england/provisional-childhood-vaccination-coverage-april-2026