NHS ’clearly failing’ to ensure children get measles vaccine, experts warn

Children are at risk of measles because the NHS is “clearly failing” to ensure they get the MMR vaccine and its system needs an urgent overhaul, MPs and health experts have warned.

Calls are growing for major reform of how MMR jabs are delivered as it emerged that vaccination rates in some parts of England are now on a par with those in Afghanistan and Malawi.

More outbreaks of measles like the one in north London are inevitable, public health specialists believe, given that fewer than 60% of five-year-olds in some places have had both the recommended doses of MMR.

In Enfield, where 60 children have recently contracted measles, of whom 15 have been hospitalised, the MMR vaccination rate is only 64.3%. That is lower than the 69.3% rate in Malawi and just above Afghanistan’s 62% rate. The World Health Organization advises a 95% rate.

The outbreak in Enfield has reignited public and medical anxiety about unvaccinated children getting measles, which can damage the brain and lungs and in some cases lead to meningitis, blindness or even death. Five “catch-up clinics” have been set up in local community centres to vaccinate children who got either one or no doses of MMR when it was offered to their parents.

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Source: The Guardian, 16 February 2026