Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of access to health services on vaccination rates.
England has high coverage for most vaccines, with uptake levels for many vaccinations above 90%, but there has been a slow but steady decline in uptake over the past si years, which the Department and partners are working to address.
The factors that affect uptake of vaccinations are complex and vary over time and by locality. Public Health England, public health organisations and researchers have worked to understand the relative impact of factors that are believed to affect uptake rates at a local level. The issue of access to vaccines features in the National Audit Office investigation into pre-school vaccines report, published on 25 October 2019, and in the Royal Society for Public Health report “Moving the Needle” published in January 2019. Both reports highlight improving access as a key issue for increasing uptake of vaccinations.