Scottish Vaccine Update
Issue 84

Welcome to the November edition of the Scottish Vaccine Update.

This edition focuses on the maternal programme.

Scotland's maternal programme currently includes the four vaccinations offered during pregnancy.

These are for:

• pertussis (whooping cough)
• respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
• influenza (flu)
• coronavirus (COVID-19)

Receiving these vaccines during pregnancy is the safest way to help protect both pregnant women and their newborn babies from the risk of serious illness, and death, that can be caused by these diseases.

This month, Dr Claire Cameron, Consultant in Public Health at Public Health Scotland has written a blog on Scotland's maternal programme.

It demonstrates how everyone providing clinical care for pregnant women has an important role in highlighting the vaccines recommended during pregnancy, and it includes links to case studies highlighting the lived experience of parents whose children became very unwell with RSV.

Read our blog.

The UK Heath Security Agency's Immunisation Against Infectious Disease collection – popularly known as the 'Green Book' – contains chapters on vaccine preventable infectious diseases in the UK.

These chapters are updated as necessary to reflect the current policies and procedures as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

View the chapters relating to the maternal programme:

• pertussis (whooping cough)
• respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
• influenza
• COVID-19

Patient Group Directions (PGD) have been issued to NHS health boards which support the maternal programme.

View the PGDs for the administration of:

• diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis with or without inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine
• inactivated influenza vaccine 2024/25 season
• COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to individuals aged under 18 years
• COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to individuals aged 18 years and over

Please refer to your locally approved PGD alongside the training materials from NHS National Education for Scotland (NES).

Ensuring the public can access information on the maternal programme and individual vaccines is also key to ensure trust in all vaccination programme, and to help those who may need more support in accessing vaccination. 

PHS has developed resources to support the workforce to:

• be fully informed about the maternal vaccination programme
• support vaccine confidence and equity
• be an aid to conversation about the vaccines

This includes information to support informed consent for the maternal programme, aiming to support confident conversations about the vaccines being offered to those eligible this winter.

Information leaflets are available in English and alternative languages and formats (such as British Sign Language, Audio and Easy Read).

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) – in partnership with Public Health Scotland (PHS) – has developed a variety of workforce education resources to support the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP).

These resources – available on TURAS Learn – will be of interest to practitioners whose remit includes immunisation, whether vaccination administration or giving advice.

There are learning resources available for each of the vaccines offered during pregnancy. In addition, there are resources available detailing seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccines and pregnancy.

These will be of use to all those who are involved with vaccination whether administering or having conversations about vaccination with pregnant women.

View these resources on the NES TURAS Learn website:

• pertussis (whooping cough)
• respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
• seasonal flu programme
  • seasonal flu in pregnancy
• COVID-19 vaccination programme
  • pregnancy, breastfeeding and reproductive health as it relates to the COVID-19 vaccine

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We published the first annual vaccination and immunisation report for Scotland.

It provides an overview of Scotland’s vaccination andimmunisation programme for 2023 and the role it is playing to protect the population of Scotland from a range of infectious diseases.

This programme is Scotland's largest co-ordinated public health intervention, and this report reveals the progress made in this top health protection priority and offers insight into areas of excellence and challenge.

Read the vaccination and immunisation 2023 annual report.

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The Scottish Vaccine Update provides regular, up-to-date information for Scotland’s vaccination workforce.

We aim to keep healthcare practitioners informed on the latest activity within each of the vaccine programmes.

If you subscribe to our mailing list, we will send you a notification when a new issue of the Scottish Vaccine Update has been published.