Committee publication · Correspondence · 21 July 2026
Correspondence from Minister Hodgson Vaccines session follow up response
Summary
Minister Sharon Hodgson responds to the Health and Social Care Committee's follow-up questions from its February 2026 panel session on vaccination uptake. The Government defends its removal of the WHO 95% target from NHS planning guidance (emphasizing it remains a working goal), outlines its preference for action over strategy documents, confirms community pharmacy funding increases, details digital infrastructure investments (MAVIS, RAVS, MYA platforms), and explains why it will not commission a comprehensive incremental-uptake cost-effectiveness study, instead relying on existing JCVI methodology and targeted analyses showing clear returns on measles vaccination investment.
Key findings
- WHO 95% coverage target remains the Government's working goal despite removal from 2022–23 NHS planning guidance; streamlining was about clarity, not reducing ambition. MMR uptake is now a scoring metric in the NHS Oversight Framework for the first time.
- Government refuses to commission a single comprehensive incremental-uptake cost-effectiveness study, citing modelling complexity and uncertainty around herd immunity thresholds and outbreak scale; instead relies on disease-specific analyses and JCVI methodology.
- Measles analysis demonstrates clear invest-to-save case: outbreak of 40,000–160,000 cases could cost £21m–£167m in hospitalisations alone versus £17m cost of vaccinations needed to achieve 95% coverage over five years.
- Community pharmacy funding increased 19% over 2024/25–2025/26 (largest NHS uplift at that time). MMRV vaccination will not be routinely offered in community pharmacies; focus remains general practice delivery, though outbreak response and pilot evaluations continue.
- Digital platforms (MAVIS, RAVS, MYA) being rolled out to improve data flows and vaccination administration: MAVIS expected live in 72% of school immunisation services by September 2026 (96 teams, 13,823 schools); API for GP IT data flows live April 2026.
Tone
FactualTopics
Key actors
Sharon Hodgson MP, Health and Social Care Committee, NHS England, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), World Health Organisation (WHO)
Notable line
“The Government is committed to increasing uptake to achieve further health gains, fully acknowledging the significant benefits this brings to both the NHS and social care, and wider society.”
Key Quotes
“I share the Committee's concern that the current position is not good enough. Improving vaccine uptake is a clear priority for me, and I want to see faster, sustained progress across all routine vaccination programmes.”
“The approach to NHS planning guidance has been to make it clearer and more focused. In 2022-23, planning guidance contained a very large number of metrics, which made it less manageable as a practical framework for system accountability.”
“The WHO 95% coverage target remains the target we are collectively working towards and continues to be set out clearly in the NHS Public Health Functions Agreement 1 .”
“… our view is that it is better to prioritise modelling resources where they are most able to result in actionable insights.”
“By way of contrast, the below analysis demonstrates that the childhood flu vaccine, while highly cost effective, has a net cost to the NHS.”
“There are no plans to routinely offer MMRV vaccination in CPs. The routine MMRV programme is offered in general practice …”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗