There is no magic bullet method to boost vaccination rates nor any good evidence on the most cost-effective interventions to increase uptake, a review has found.
A systematic review by the UK Health Security Agency concluded that there was a complete gap in the evidence of system-level approaches, such as QOF or changes in service delivery, to address vaccine uptake.
And there was no clear evidence on the impact of work to engage with community or cultural groups, translation of materials or having an interpreter where needed in consultations or on national campaigns or expanding the healthcare staff able to give a vaccine.
But putting a mix of interventions in place, including text and email reminders, financial incentives and interventions delivered by healthcare practitioners (including pharmacists, clinicians, nurses and health educators) does seem to lead to a general increase in vaccine uptake compared to controls.
Yet because of the way research has been conducted, it is not possible to draw any firm conclusions about the most effective approach, it said.
It comes as the House of Lords Childhood Vaccinations Committee put out a call for evidence as part of its inquiry into falling uptake rates.
Peers will be investigating why there has been a gradual decline in uptake over the past decade and what the Government should do to reverse it.
MPs have also called the Government’s current vaccination strategy ‘a failure’, which should be replaced with a new plan focusing on vaccination uptake in early years.
The Parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee said that the Government urgently needs a new strategy to reverse the falling vaccination rates and should aim for 95% coverage across England.
NHS England has delayed its plans to transfer responsibility for commissioning vaccination services to ICBs until next year.
The commissioner said that ‘subject to parliamentary approval’ commissioning functions for vaccinations, child health information services (CHIS) and almost all components of screening services will transfer to ICBs from April 2027, instead of next month.
Under the new GP contract, the QOF has been amended to ‘reward’ practices that may not meet the existing achievement thresholds but demonstrate ‘meaningful and sustained improvement’ in vaccination uptake.
Meanwhile, a new survey of pregnant women and women who recently gave birth by UKHSA found a conversation with a healthcare professional was the key factor in them taking up the offer of a vaccine.
While around 40% of women who had a discussion with a healthcare professional said they were already going to have the vaccine, an additional 40% said they felt more confident about having a pregnancy vaccine following the discussion, underpinning the importance of those conversations, UKHSA said.
Dr Helen Campbell, lead scientist at UKHSA, said: ‘These findings highlight again just how important midwives and other healthcare professionals are in supporting women to feel informed and confident about vaccination.
‘The vaccines offered during pregnancy provide the best protection for newborns at a time when they are most vulnerable. If you’re pregnant and haven’t yet been offered any of these vaccines, contact your midwife or GP surgery.’
The article was originally published in our sister publication Pulse.
