Children from struggling families to be vaccinated at home - as immunisation rates drop

Children from struggling families will be able to be vaccinated at home across parts of England in a new government pilot scheme.

Health visitors - specialist public health nurses who support families with children under five - will administer the jabs during routine health visits, which removes the "obstacles" that some families face in accessing healthcare.

A Government statement said the new pilot would target families who have "fallen through the cracks - including those not signed up with a GP, struggling with travel costs, childcare juggling, language barriers or other tough circumstances that stop them getting to the doctor".

The scheme is not designed to replace GP vaccinations and families should continue to get their child vaccinated at their local surgery, the statement added.

The £2m scheme aims to improve immunisation rates, with figures released last year showing not a single childhood vaccine in England in 2024 met the 95% target needed to ensure diseases cannot spread among youngsters.

The 12 pilot schemes will roll out from mid-January across London, the midlands, north-east England and Yorkshire, the north west and south west.

The government is also announcing that from 2 January, all children will be vaccinated against chickenpox for the first time.

They will receive the new MMRV vaccine, protecting against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox, which replaces the current MMR vaccine.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "Every parent deserves the chance to protect their child from preventable diseases, but some families have a lot going on and that can mean they miss out.

"Health visitors are already trusted faces in communities across the country. By allowing them to offer vaccinations, we're using the relationships and expertise that already exist to reach families who need support most.

"Fixing the NHS means tackling health inequalities head-on. By meeting families where they are, we're not just boosting vaccination rates - we're building a health service that works for everyone."

The year-long trial will be evaluated ahead of a potential nationwide rollout from 2027.

Health visitors will get extra training on how to handle conversations with parents who may be reluctant to have their child vaccinated.

Struggling families will be identified by the NHS using GP records, health visitor notes and local databases.

The pilot comes after figures released in August 2025 showed there continues to be sharp differences in uptake across regions of the country, with health officials warning last year that almost one in five children would be starting primary school without full protection against a number of serious diseases.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends at least 95% of children should receive vaccine doses for each illness to achieve herd immunity - and none of the main childhood vaccines in England reached this target in 2024/25.

Some 91.9% of five-year-olds had received one dose of the MMR (measles, mumps & rubella) vaccine, unchanged from 2023/24 and the lowest level since 2010/11, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

And just 83.7% of five-year-olds had received both MMR doses, down year-on-year from 83.9% and the lowest level since 2009/10.

Uptake of the first MMR dose at 24 months stood at 88.9% in 2024/25 - unchanged on the previous year, but again the lowest figure since 2009/10.

Coverage for the Hib/MenC vaccine, which protects against haemophilus influenzae type B and meningitis C, stood at 88.9% for children in England aged five, down from 89.4% in 2023/24 and the lowest level since 2011/12.

Uptake of the four-in-one pre-school booster vaccine - which protects against polio, whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria - stood at just 81.4% among five-year-olds in England in 2024/25.

(c) Sky News 2026: Children from struggling families to be vaccinated at home - as immunisation rates drop