Introduction

Childhood vaccinations remain one of the most effective and cost‑efficient public health interventions. They protect individual children from serious diseases and help maintain population-level immunity. Both local and national data underline the health, social and economic dimportance of sustaining high vaccination uptake.

MMR vaccine

The MMR vaccine protects against three highly infectious viral diseases: Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. Quarter 4 figures for the 2025/26 childhood vaccination programme were recently released. This quarter covers children born between January and March.

For MMR vaccination, 94.5% of children who reached 24 months of age during this period had received their first MMR dose. This was below the WHO-recommended coverage level of 95% required to achieve herd immunity. However, only four upper-tier local authorities (UTLAs) achieved this threshold in Q4. East Riding of Yorkshire (ERY) had the eighth highest coverage rate nationally and the highest rate in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Coverage was also substantially higher than both the Yorkshire and Humber average (88.1%) and the England average (87.3%).

Among children reaching their fifth birthday during the quarter, 93.6% had received the full two-dose MMR course. Although this remained below the WHO 95% target, only two UTLAs achieved the threshold in Q4. ERY recorded the sixth highest coverage rate nationally and the second highest in Yorkshire and Humber. Coverage was again considerably higher than the regional average (85.7%) and the England average (84.1%).

This quarter completes the 2025/26 vaccination year, although official annual figures will not be released until September. To provide an indication of likely annual performance, quarterly data have been aggregated across the year. While these aggregated figures do not account for children who received vaccinations outside their relevant reporting quarter, they provide a useful indication of overall performance.

For first-dose MMR coverage at 24 months, the aggregated 2025/26 figure was 94.5%, below the 95% target. This is the lowest coverage recorded since 2018/19 and the first time ERY has fallen below the target during this period. Consistent with trends seen regionally and nationally, coverage has been declining since 2020/21, when ERY achieved 96.4%. Despite this decline, coverage remains substantially higher than both regional and national averages.

Coverage for first-dose MMR by age five remains high at 95.9%, although it has fallen from 97.1% in 2023/24. This suggests that many children who do not receive their first dose by 24 months are subsequently vaccinated through catch-up activity before reaching school age.

For children who had received both MMR doses by age five, the aggregated 2025/26 coverage was 93.1%, the lowest level recorded since 2019/20. Although very few UTLAs have achieved the 95% target for two-dose coverage in recent years, and no UTLAs achieved it in 2024/25, coverage in ERY has declined since its peak of 95.2% in 2021/22.

As the 2025/26 figures are derived from aggregated quarterly data, they may be disproportionately influenced by lower-performing quarters. In particular, first-dose coverage at 24 months appears to have been affected by a lower Q2 figure, while two-dose coverage at age five appears to have been affected by a lower Q1 figure. The official annual publication will account for any children who subsequently received vaccinations through catch-up activity and may therefore present a slightly different picture of overall coverage.

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Further information

Health Protection