MMR jabs plunge by quarter since coronavirus lockdown sparking fears of measles outbreak

Fewer children in the UK have been having their measles mumps and rubella (MMR) jabs due to the pandemic, which could lead to an outbreak of the illnesses.

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A study conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that immunisation rates that were already at a seven-year low have dropped significantly compared to this time last year.

Those going to have their jabs fell by a quarter during lockdown and many children are now unprotected from the illnesses. 

3,500 fewer children have had the jab compared to this time last year.

In regions such as London and the West Midlands immunisation fell even further, meaning many more children are at risk.

The lead author of the report Helen McDonald told The Sun today that it is "really important that parents continue to take their children for their vaccinations during the pandemic".

The study looked at a sample of children nationally and Ms McDonald said the drops in children being vaccinated isn't always happening in areas where there has been a higher infection rate of Covid.

"It’s a national phenomenon, and there is a possibility that people struggling to get appointments with GPs coincided with this."

VITAL VACCINES

The MMR uptake started to fall in mid-March, just before the lockdown measures were announced.

The measures urged people to stay at home and to only go to the doctors for urgent issues. Many surgeries have barriers up in order to stop people entering and other charities and campaigns have stated that people in other demographics have also been sitting at home with symptoms of other illnesses because they are too afraid to go to the surgery for help.

In the week PM Boris Johnson announced the lockdown measures there was a 24 per cent fall in children getting their first MMR jabs in comparison to 2019.

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This is while rates of children getting the vaccines in London and Greater Manchester were down 43 per cent on last year.

The report, pre-published in stated: "The greatest percent decrease in MMR vaccination was seen in London, which had a high early burden of Covid-19. However, decreases in MMR vaccination were also seen in regions with a low incidence of Covid-19 infection during this period, suggesting that the changes were not solely due to Covid-19 infection burden. 

"Regional variation might also be explained by local communications, which may have mitigated the fall in some areas."

Rates of vaccination in the West Midlands was also down 29 per cent.

So far in the UK over 33,000 people have died from the coronavirus and the MMR figures show that the pandemic has created unintended consequences across the board.

Despite the drop in vaccinations in March, rates rose again in mid-April as NHS Trusts encouraged people to return to surgeries for essentials.

Ms McDonald said this was "encouraging" but added that it needed to be sustained in order to make sure there was not a backlog of children being vaccinated.

"It's important children are vaccinated as when social distancing is relaxed nurseries will open again. If the improvement is not sustained there could be a risk when they do reopen."

Despite the fears around vaccinations, one young mother told The Sun that she had her baby vaccinated this week and said the risk of her son not having his jabs was too great.

Hannah Davies took her little boy George, who is just eight weeks old to a surgery in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire this week and said once she got to the surgery she was told exactly what to do.

"There was just one person in the waiting room and there was a table full of PPE, the nurse put on a mask in front of me and I was given a mask too.

"I weighed George myself to limit contact then I sat on one side of the room whilst George was being examined by the doctor for his routine eight week check up, then he left and the nurse did his jabs.

"She was close to me but she had to be to do the injection and obviously I was holding him to keep him calm and still. I felt completely fine though as we both had masks on and she had gloves on and I know the slight risk there outweighed the risk of not going for the jabs."

In conclusion the report stated: "It is vital that routine childhood vaccinations continue, particularly for diseases such as measles for which a high coverage is required to prevent outbreaks.

"Decreased vaccine counts have also been reported in other high-income countries, and the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization has advised that routine immunization services should continue to aim for high population immunity.

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"Countries will require immunisation recovery plans with innovative approaches to delivery that maintain social distancing requirements."

It was also highlighted that some vaccines are delivered through schools and that these institutions will also require catch-up programmes after the pandemic.

"Continuous and timely assessment of vaccine coverage will be required to respond to potentially volatile changes during the Covid-19 pandemic."