Date: Tuesday 21 September 2021
Time: 2.00pm – 4.00pm BST

At this webinar, we launched our report, commissioned by MSD, on routine vaccination in clinical risk groups in the UK.

This event was chaired by Arunima Himawan, ILC Research Fellow.

Speakers included:

• Andrew Lane, Chair, National Pharmacy Association
• Christina Marriott, CEO, Royal Society for Public Health
• David Green, Nurse consultant for immunisations, Public Health England
• Doug Brown, Chief Executive, British Society for Immunology
• Jenny Lippiatt, Professionals and Practice Programme Manager, Age UK
• Orin Lewis OBE, Co-Founder & Chief Executive, African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust
• Patrick Swain, Research and Projects Officer at ILC and report author

While current guidance states that individuals with underlying health conditions should receive routine immunisations against vaccine-preventable diseases such as influenza (flu), pneumococcal disease and hepatitis B, uptake remains low. For example, only around half (53%) of people in a clinical risk group in England received the flu vaccine during the 2020/21 flu season. This is significantly lower than the WHO Regional Office for Europe target of 75%, with around 3.75 million at-risk people remaining unvaccinated against flu last winter.

As such, finding solutions to increase uptake in clinical risk groups and preventing potential excess morbidity and mortality is crucial. Through conversations with people in risk groups, condition-focused charities and medical experts, our latest findings highlight the current practices, barriers and potential solutions associated with immunisation. These discussions informed our best practice guide aimed at equipping charities – who are seen as trustworthy and reliant by risk groups – with ideas on how to encourage routine vaccine uptake.

In this webinar, we shared our new findings and recommendations on what charities can do to improve uptake among risk groups.