OBJECTIVES: The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted many areas of public health, including the administration of routine paediatric vaccinations. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) immunisation schedule includes the administration of the 6-in-1 vaccine, Rotavirus vaccine and MenB vaccine to children under 1 year old, with an expected vaccination coverage rate (VCR) of 95%. This research aimed to review the annual trends in vaccination coverage for these early childhood vaccinations across regions within England, with particular focus on the pre- (2017-2019) and post- (2020-2021) COVID-19 eras.

METHODS: Data on childhood vaccination coverage were reviewed for the study period 2017-2021 for vaccinations at 1 year old. Annual data were reported for each cohort of children born within the preceding 12 months from March 31^st of the reporting year. VCR data were also reviewed at a regional level.

RESULTS: The national average VCR for paediatric vaccinations in England decreased slightly between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 (91.7% to 91.4%), however, there were substantial regional variations. Between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, average VCR in the North East and London both decreased (95.5% to 95.1% and 87.4% to 86.1%, respectively). The London region consistently reported the lowest VCRs and the North East the highest VCRs for all vaccines across the study period from 2017-2021. The greatest disparities in VCR between each region and the national average were reported in 2020-2021 (+3.7% in North East and -5.3% in London).

CONCLUSIONS: Although similar annual trends to previous years were reported across the country during the study period, post-COVID-19 VCRs indicate a substantial increase in disparity between the regions reporting the highest and lowest VCRs. This trend indicates that regions which have previously experienced barriers to paediatric vaccination uptake were adversely affected by the interruption to public health services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.