Reading Borough Council Urge Parents to Contact Their GP for Measles Vaccinations

Reading Borough Council are Urging Parents to Contact Their GP for Measles Vaccinations. Parents of unvaccinated children – as well as older teenagers and young adults who may have missed the MMR vaccination – should be aware it is never too late to get vaccinated against measles and they should make an appointment with their GP to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Nationally measles is at its highest level for the past 18 years. Experts believe that is due to the proportion of largely 10-16 year-olds who missed out on vaccination in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when concern around a now-disproved link between autism and the MMR vaccine was widespread.

The World Health Organisation recommends that more than 95% of children should be vaccinated with doses of MMR. In England, coverage of MMR vaccine by the age of two stands at 92%, with 94% having received the first dose and 88% having had the second dose by the age of five. In Reading, MMR coverage by the age of two is 94%, with 91% having received the second dose by age five. However, a national survey of a random sample of patients registered with GP practices in Reading showed coverage of MMR vaccine among four to eleven year olds of 80%.

This figure fell to only 66% coverage in 12 to 18 year olds. The local Public Health Team in Berkshire have confirmed this week there is adequate local supply of MMR in Reading to meet demand. All parents whose children have not been vaccinated, or parents who do not know if they have been vaccinated, are now being urged to contact their local GP and set up an appointment. Nationally, Public Health England are targeting one million children in a vaccination drive to help prevent cases rising any further.