In her latest blog ILC’s Senior Health Policy Lead, Esther McNamara, considers the practical, social, and cultural reasons why countries in Central and Eastern Europe have levels of vaccination coverage below the EU average.

How does the country and culture you live in influence your understanding of your health and wellbeing? Who do you turn to when making decisions about your health? Had you grown up elsewhere, would you have a different relationship with the health service and government who deliver your healthcare?

These are central question we are addressing in our programme of work ‘Vaccine Confidence in Central and Eastern Europe’. Our report examines the practical, social, and cultural reasons why eleven countries in Central and Eastern Europe have levels of vaccination coverage below the EU average.

Across Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, levels of vaccination uptake and coverage can vary widely. Some of these countries have near-perfect uptake rates for children’s scheduled immunisations; others have a way to go to ensure that all children are getting their necessary immunisations.

With regard to adult immunisation, it is important that we all shift our perceptions of who vaccination is for. The vast majority of people in the UK and CEE region are familiar with infant and childhood immunisations, and trust that they are safe and effective. Adult and adolescent immunisation carries many of the same benefits but too often it is not prioritised in the same way. This is clearly reflected in rates of uptake for a range of vaccines, from COVID-19, HPV, and seasonal flu.

This programme of work uses local knowledge gleaned from expert stakeholders working in the region, who participated in one-to-one interviews and roundtable discussions. The report makes recommendations for national and EU stakeholders, setting out practical and rhetorical changes that would support improved uptake.

We will be launching this report at an event in Brussels in March 2024 that will explore how prepared Europe is for the “100-year life”. To learn more about this event and register your interest, please contact PatrickSwain@ilcuk.org.uk.

As we continue into the winter season in the UK, we’re reminded of the importance of seasonal vaccination programmes to help prevent severe disease like influenza (flu). With vaccine fatigue and complacency setting in as the COVID-19 pandemic fades, it is more important than ever to get vaccinated and ensure that we continue to protect ourselves against vaccine-preventable diseases.