The power of prevention: boosting vaccine uptake
Researcher
Vaccines play a vital role in preventing disease and enabling people to live healthy lives. After clean water, they are the most effective public health intervention we have. However, the UK is now experiencing worrying trends in uptake for key immunisation programmes, including routine childhood vaccinations.
Last year, Re:State published a briefing paper exploring the behavioural drivers affecting vaccine uptake. It considered three broad factors involved in people's attitudes to vaccination — confidence, complacency and convenience — and recommended five actions to increase uptake.
Yesterday, we were delighted to be joined by Chris Hopson, Chief Strategy Officer, NHS England; Steve Race MP, Chair, APPG for Pharmacy; Caroline Temmink, Director, Vaccination, NHS England; and Kirsten Watters, Director, Public Health, Camden Council and Immunisation Lead, London Association of Directors of Public Health; for a lively and insightful discussion on boosting vaccine uptake.
Here are three key takeaways:
- A balance needs to be struck between the enabling environment created at a national level, and locally tailored public health interventions. For instance, there is real value in using the NHS app as a national platform to make it more convenient for patients to book vaccine appointments, and it is cost effective to procure vaccines nationally. However, understanding and addressing lower rates of uptake must be a local endeavour — to allow for the flexibility needed to test different approaches, make best use of the VSCE sector and local assets, and ensure vaccines reach underserved populations.
- Trust is a critical component in boosting vaccine uptake: trust in the healthcare system, but also in the individuals and organisations who deliver vaccinations outside of the NHS, such as in schools and community pharmacies. For example, a rising number of children are now absent from schools, where it is often most convenient for them to be vaccinated, and disinformation is affecting children and young people’s attitudes towards the safety and value of vaccination.
- Finally, panellists agreed on the importance of ensuring there is a genuine partnership at an ICB level between local government and health commissioners, to address health inequalities and low and declining rates of uptake, including among ethnic minority groups. Crucially, this must be a true partnership of equals so that local government and the charity sector’s unique insights, and understanding of (sometimes “hyper-local”) communities can be leveraged to provide vaccine services that work for local people, are convenient and build trust.
The briefing paper and event was kindly supported by Novavax.