Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the uptake of vaccinations to combat the spread of diseases.

The Government is aware of the need to improve the uptake of our vaccine programmes.

The Department is working with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England to take steps to promote uptake by providing diverse delivery methods, to make getting vaccinated easier, increasing outreach efforts to under-served groups, and raising awareness of the dangers of vaccine preventable diseases. Paid for marketing campaigns to support uptake of routine immunisations, seasonal flu, and COVID-19 vaccinations have been run over the past year, with evaluation showing positive results.

The UKHSA has continued to undertake annual surveys of parents and adolescents to develop an understanding of how knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards immunisation, vaccine safety, and disease severity influence vaccine uptake decision-making.

Along with this work, the Department is also looking at how it can go further, exploring new ways to boost uptake by supplementing the general practice offer already based in communities through teams including community pharmacists and health visitors.

It is vitally important that everyone has their recommended vaccinations, as they are the best way to help protect yourself and your family from these viruses, which can cause serious harm.