High uptake helps protect people too young or too ill to have vaccines themselves.⁴

There is a 9.3 percentage points difference in vaccination uptake between 4 year-olds resident in the least and most deprived areas of Wales.¹

University towns are at the highest risk of measles outbreaks due to lower vaccination rates among young people. Vaccination can prevent measles.⁵

The 2023 National Immunisation Framework set out 6 priorities for transforming vaccination in Wales, including:

Equity: Health boards should ensure fair access and opportunity to take up the offer of vaccination.

Digitally enabled vaccination: New solutions to support citizens and NHS delivery.

Vaccination literacy: Clear information and robust communications to improve public understanding of the importance of vaccination.⁸

1. Public Health Wales, ‘Annual COVER Report 2025-26’, July 2026, available from https://phw.nhs.wales/reports/vaccine-uptake-in-children-in-wales-cover-annual-report-2025-to-2026/.

2. Public Health Wales Vaccine Preventable Disease Programme, ‘Weekly Influenza and Acute Respiratory Infection Report; Influenza Vaccination Data’, 25/3/25, available at https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/immunisation-and-vaccines/fluvaccine/weekly-influenza-and-acute-respiratory-infection-report/.

3. NHS England, ‘NHS Vaccination Strategy’, December 2023, accessed December 2024, available at https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-vaccination-strategy/#summary.

4. NHS111 Wales, ‘Vaccinations’, accessed August 2026, available at https://111.wales.nhs.uk/livewell/vaccinations/Why%20vaccination%20is%20important/.

5. Public Health Wales, ‘Modelling of the potential for outbreaks of Measles in Wales’, May 2025, accessed August 2026, available at https://phw.nhs.wales/reports/modelling-of-the-potential-for-outbreaks-of-measles-in-wales/.

6. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, ‘Vaccine uptake in the general population: NICE guideline’, May 2022, available at www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng218.

7. Public Health Wales, ‘Wales COVID-19 Vaccination Weekly Surveillance Summary’ (winter 2025-26 vaccination campaign), 19/02/2026, available at https://www2.nphs.wales.nhs.uk/CommunitySurveillanceDocs.nsf/3dc04669c9e1eaa880257062003b246b/cf7a9a9adcddbb0a8025866b003a51a1/$FILE/Wales%20COVID-19%20vaccination%20surveillance%20weekly%20report.pdf.

8. Welsh Government, National Immunisation Framework for Wales, 2023, available at https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2022-10/national-immunisation-framework-for-wales.pdf.