Immunisation is a tried, tested and effective way to prevent disease that saves an estimated six million lives and tens of billions of dollars worldwide every year.

In the last 18 months, we’ve seen the impact of infectious diseases on public health and finances all too starkly, as this was brought to the fore by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UK has responded with an immunisation programme that has been in many respects an international example of best practice. But we can’t afford to become complacent:

• Despite having relatively high uptake for routine vaccinations at a national level, we continue to see inequalities in uptake rates among people from certain geographic, socioeconomic, ethnic and religious backgrounds.
• Despite the benefits of immunisation, not everyone sees themselves as at risk from vaccine-preventable diseases, and not everyone thinks vaccines are for them.
• Finally, data sharing a major barrier to the monitoring and delivery of vaccination.

Over the course of 2021, ILC has spoken to experts in immunisation, from government officials to local authorities and healthcare professionals, to discuss how the delivery of immunisation in the UK could be improved, learning from the experience of the last 18 months.

This policy briefing, commissioned by MSD, collates these views and makes three main recommendations for the UK healthcare system to improve uptake of routine immunisation:

• Raise awareness of routine vaccinations and their benefits
• Use personal medical data effectively for immunisation
• Enable effective collaboration on immunisation at national and local levels