Children in England to be offered vaccines in their own homes

Key Highlights

• However, not a single one of the main childhood vaccines in England hit the target in 2024-25.
• There were also sharp differences in uptake across the country. In an effort to tackle the crisis, health visitors will begin offering a range of life-saving jabs to children in their own homes as part of a £2m pilot scheme starting in January. Health visitors are nurses or midwives that specialise in working with families with children under five to identify health needs as early as possible.
• Under the scheme, they will target families who are not signed up with a GP or who struggle with travel costs, childcare, language barriers or other issues stopping them seeing a doctor. Children will be identified by the NHS using GP records, health visitor notes and local databases, sources said.
• Health visitors will be trained to administer vaccines safely and have tricky conversations with parents, including those with doubts about vaccine safety. Twelve pilot areas will launch in January across five regions of England – London, the Midlands, the north-east and Yorkshire, the north-west and the south-west – aimed at boosting uptake and protecting children against diseases.
• If successful, the scheme will roll out everywhere in 2027. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, 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.