Maximising Vaccine Uptake: A Population/Community Approach

Vaccination saves lives, and as one of the most cost-effective public health interventions, it is important that everyone is offered the vaccines they are eligible for and as many people as possible take up that opportunity. Confidence in the UK routine vaccination programme is generally very high, but inequalities in vaccine uptake exist, particularly in underserved communities. These communities often suffer a disproportionate burden from vaccine preventable disease, and as such, health professionals have a duty to reduce inequalities within vaccination services to ensure that no one is left behind. Identifying underserved groups and communities within the population and adapting services to meet their needs are crucial. This chapter will identify those in the population who are more likely to be impacted by health inequalities in vaccination services and outline ways to reduce these. This includes exploring some of the evidence around working with underserved communities to improve vaccine uptake and a series of recommendations based on the findings of this work.