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This article summarises the recommendations by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for a new UK childhood immunisation schedule following the discontinuation of the Hib/MenC vaccine by the manufacturer (currently used at 12 months of age as a booster for these antigens) and the rationale behind these changes to the schedule. From late 2025, when the current stock of Hib/Men C vaccine runs out, Men C vaccination will no longer be offered to toddlers, as the adolescent Men ACWY vaccination programme is expected to effectively sustain herd immunity. To improve herd immunity against polio and sustain Hib control by maintaining the current impact on Hib carriage in toddlers, an 18-month visit will be added to the vaccination schedule, where a booster dose of DTaP/IPV/Hib or DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB will be offered. The second MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) dose will be advanced from 40 to 18 months to improve uptake, with a recommendation that both MMR doses are offered with varicella immunisation (MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella and varicella)), as addition of varicella to the schedule has been demonstrated to be cost-effective in recent modelling reviewed by JCVI. One of the recently licensed interventions for preventing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants (a maternal bivalent RSV prefusion F protein vaccine) will be incorporated into the new schedule, which should significantly reduce RSV burden in infants. In addition, higher-valency pneumococcal vaccines with wider serotype coverage may be introduced.
Details
Hepatitis B;
mRNA vaccines;
Gastroenteritis;
Mumps;
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2;
Rubella;
Respiratory syncytial virus;
Children;
COVID-19;
Human papillomavirus;
Outbreaks;
Sewage;
Influenza B;
Young adults;
Fatalities;
Disease transmission;
mRNA;
Infections;
Immunization;
Viruses;
Public health;
Streptococcus infections;
Teenagers;
Pandemics;
Rotavirus;
Vaccines;
Diphtheria;
Disease;
Measles;
Influenza;
Combined vaccines;
Risk groups;
Herd immunity;
Chicken pox;
Tetanus;
Immunity (Disease);
Pertussis;
Age;
Epidemics;
Whooping cough;
Poliomyelitis;
Population decline;
Childhood;
Babies;
Rotavirus
1 Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
2 Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
3 UK Health Security Agency, London, UK
4 Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK