Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase coverage rates for the childhood flu vaccination programme.

The Government is working to improve the uptake of our vaccination programmes, including children’s flu uptake.

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, including flu. Paid for marketing campaigns to support the uptake of childhood flu and other vaccinations have been run over the past year, with evaluation showing positive results.

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 health visitors.

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

It is important that children are vaccinated for flu, as it is the best way to help protect them from flu, which can cause serious harm. The children’s flu vaccination also helps prevent flu transmission in the community.