Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland
Quarter and year ending 31 December 2022

About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides an annual and quarterly update of immunisation uptake rates for children in Scotland. Immunisation programmes for children aim to protect the individual child from many serious infectious diseases and prevent the spread of disease in the wider population. Information is shown for NHS Boards and local authorities, at 12 months, 24 months, 5 years and 6 years of age.

Main points

• Annual uptake rates remained high in Scotland in 2022; around 95% of children had received each routine immunisation by the time they were 12 months old, with the exception of rotavirus vaccine, which had 93.1% uptake.

A line chart showing percentage uptake of 5-in-1/6-in-1, MenB, PCV, Rotavirus and MenC immunisations seperately by 12 months of age and by calendar year, from 2013 to calendar year 2022. Details are provided in the accompanying text.

Close

Primary immunisation uptake rates by 12 months of age*, by calendar year for the period 2013 to 2022, Scotland

*Children turning 12 months of age in the relevant year e.g. for 2022 this would be children born during January-December 2021

• Most children received their booster vaccines by 24 months of age: Hib/MenC (93.7%), Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) (93.4%) and MenB (93.2%).
• The first dose of MMR vaccine is offered between 12 and 13 months old and the second dose from 3 years 4 months old.
  • 93.9% of children had the first dose of MMR vaccine by 24 months of age. This increased to 95.2% for children who had reached age 5.
  • Uptake of the second dose of MMR vaccine by 5 years was 90.5%, rising to 91.9% by age 6 years.
• Children from the more deprived areas were less likely to take up the vaccines than children in the less deprived areas.
• Quarterly vaccine uptake rates also remained high, although there were decreases in all measures compared with the previous quarter.

Background

As a public health measure, immunisations are very effective in reducing the burden of disease. The European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that on a national basis at least 95% of children are immunised against diseases preventable by immunisation and targeted for elimination or control. These include diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), measles, mumps and rubella.

Rotavirus vaccine should be given within strict age limits, with the first dose before 15 weeks and second dose before 24 weeks of age. These age limits mean that if a child is not immunised with the first dose early enough, due to missed appointments for example, then it may not be possible for them to complete the full 2 dose course before 24 weeks. This explains why uptake of the completed 2 dose course of rotavirus vaccine is slightly lower than completed courses of the other vaccines offered in the first year of life.

Information on uptake among pre-school children eligible for immunisation during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is available on our COVID-19 wider impacts on the healthcare system dashboard and shows that uptake has remained high.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be June 2023.