Vaccine fatigue and misinformation fuel drop in flu, Covid, and MMR jab uptake in Staffordshire

“Vaccine fatigue” and the “anti-vax” movement have affected uptake in jabs to protect people from illnesses that can lead to serious complications for some people, health bosses have said.
Rates of vaccination uptake for more seasonal conditions, like flu and Covid, are down compared to last winter – and in recent years the number of children receiving the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine have been lower than expected, Staffordshire councillors have heard.

A report to the latest Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting revealed that health services in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have faced challenges including misinformation about vaccines. Their work to encourage more people to take up jabs has included holding sessions at mosques, schools, churches and asylum hotels to reach more diverse communities.

A report to the committee said:

“Tackling misinformation has been a priority due to big rise in anti-vax sentiment, fuelled by widespread misinformation and disinformation. Members of the public were invited to take part in a Vodcast to ask clinicians about any myths or rumours they had heard and to raise any concerns.

“This informal, meaningful and insightful conversation enabled our participants to feel heard and left more informed about vaccinations. The resultant film will be shared across partners and stakeholders to offer additional resources to our local population.”

Samantha Buckingham, head of clinical business at Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Integrated Care Board, told councillors:

“In general, we achieve quite good uptake in vaccination and immunisation in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. There are some areas we can approve, like flu vaccinations and school-age immunisations.

“We are seeing a reduction in flu and Covid (vaccinations) this year and that’s similar to what’s happening nationally. There’s a few reasons for this.

“This year there was a lack of a national campaign around flu and Covid as we went into the winter season. We have tried to do local campaigns but that doesn’t have the same reach as a national campaign would have.

“There is a lack of awareness of the significance of covid and flu infections, particularly around Covid. People think it has gone away or it’s less of a significant issue than it was a couple of years ago.

“We do still have hospital admissions for Covid and flu hospital admissions. If you do get Covid or flu, there is still a risk of being hospitalised or having serious effects.

“They think nationally that because of all the Covid vaccinations that people have been called forward for, there is ‘vaccine fatigue’. People have been called for so many vaccines, they are wondering why they need another Covid or flu vaccination, so we are trying to raise awareness that it is something you will continue to need to have on a seasonal basis.

“With MMR we have quite a high uptake when we compare ourselves nationally and regionally. However, across the patch we saw a significant decline in MMR vaccinations.

“The Covid period significantly affected MMR vaccinations, so we have done a lot of work over the last 12 months to make sure we’re targeting the areas of very low activity in MMR vaccinations. We’re trying to improve the general awareness of the significant impact on individuals who catch mumps or measles to try and get as many patients vaccinated for MMR as possible.”

Councillors also spoke out about the importance of vaccinations at the committee meeting. And they highlighted a story in a recent episode of BBC1 drama Call the Midwife, which featured a boy who had suffered complications from measles and his mother’s efforts to encourage other parents to get their children vaccinated. Committee chair Councillor Richard Cox said:

“It probably did spell out to people they should get their children vaccinated because of the complications and seriousness if not. Why wouldn’t you take those vaccinations if they’re going to save lives?”

Councillor Charlotte Atkins said:

“We seem to have a problem with the second dose of the MMR vaccine. What are you doing about getting people to recognise that the second dose is important?

“It was portrayed on a TV hospital drama which is helpful. But clearly, if people think the first vaccine is enough, you are not getting the message out.”

Councillor Charlotte Atkins also asked what impact the anti-vax movement was having on childhood immunisations.

Ms Buckingham said:

“Over the last 10 years, that is some part of the reason the MMR vaccination was reduced. You will be aware there were links with the MMR vaccination to autism and that’s been largely discredited now, but it takes a long time to get over those questions that have been raised.

“We have had some anti-vax activity, particularly around Covid vaccinations in children. Where we’ve had children’s clinics go on we’ve had anti-vax activity that has been dealt with on the scene.

“One of our key priorities is to overcome the misinformation that’s available and try to get out as much clear information as possible to say why it’s really important to get your child or yourself vaccinated, and to try and dispel as many of those myths as possible. We will continue to do that.

“From a second-dose MMR perspective, it’s something we need to continue to work on. We did a lot of work last summer working with local authority colleagues and we were able to put on clinics in a number of schools where we knew the uptake was very low.

“We also had clinics in places like asylum hotels, community centres and children’s clubs, so we had quite a lot of people come forward for their first vaccinations. What we now need to focus on is the second vaccinations because it is vitally important they have that second vaccination.”

Councillor Julia Jessel said:

“I think everybody’s suffering from a certain amount of ‘vaccination fatigue’ and I think there’s a degree of cynicism in the public as to how effective some of these are. I wonder if we have any data on those who are admitted to hospital because of flu or Covid and how many have received the vaccination or not?

“If there was some data that could prove those who were admitted to hospital hadn’t been vaccinated, that’s quite a powerful message – if you don’t have it, that’s where you could end up. There is that feeling of you could have a Covid vaccination and you could still have Covid, and it’s the same with flu.”

Councillor Phil Hewitt said:

“I get stunned that we have these discussions about vaccinations – vaccinations have saved millions and millions of lives. But some guy on Twitter can tell us we’re all wrong.

“I queue up with my age-appropriate friends and relations to have these vaccinations. I have no desire to die from anything I shouldn’t die from – one in 100 children die from measles.”