Immunisation
Information for immunisation practitioners and other health professionals.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says:
The 2 public health interventions that have had the greatest impact on the world’s health are clean water and vaccines.
‘Immunisation against infectious disease’, also known as the Green Book, has the latest information on vaccines and vaccination procedures in the UK.
Immunisation patient group direction (PGD) templates are available for authorisation and adoption to provide NHS routine immunisation services.
Vaccine update newsletters cover developments in the field and updates to the Green Book.
See the latest vaccine uptake guidance and statistics.
Minutes of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) meetings are available.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) commissions attitudinal surveys to understand parental knowledge and attitudes towards the immunisation programme to inform the planning of the childhood immunisation programme.
A timeline showing the development and introduction of vaccines in the UK from 1796 to 2019.
Vaccine programmes
Joint letters from the Department of Health, UKHSA and NHS England announce changes to vaccine programmes. Training slide sets and other resources to accompany these programmes are also available:
- Annual flu programme
- Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccination programme
- COVID-19 vaccination programme
- Hepatitis B routine and selective programmes
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) universal vaccination programme
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for men who have sex with men (MSM) programme
- Measles catch-up
- Meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY)
- Meningococcal B (MenB)
- Meningococcal C (MenC)
- Pneumococcal infant vaccination programme
- Rotavirus
- Shingles vaccination
ImmForm
ImmForm is an UKSHA website used to both collect data on vaccine uptake for the national immunisation programme, and provide ordering facilities for vaccines used in the national immunisation programme, and other products supplied by UKHSA for urgent treatments, such as immunoglobulins and antivenom for the European Adder. There is a registration helpsheet to help you access the ImmForm website
See guidance on roles and responsibilities in the application of FMD and the Delegated Regulation to vaccines and other medicines centrally supplied by UKHSA.
Immunisation publications
Use Health Publications orderline to order paper copies of leaflets.
Browse an archive of older publications.
Childhood immunisation schedules
Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib)
Hexavalent combination vaccine (DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB)
Immunisation leaflets and guidance for parents
- Use of human and animal products in vaccines
- Pre-school vaccinations: guide to vaccinations from 2 to 5 years
- Immunisations at one year of age
- Childhood immunisation: quick guide for parents of premature babies
- What to expect after vaccinations
- Vaccines and porcine gelatine
- MMR vaccination: Have you had your MMR?
- Immunisations: babies up to 13 months of age
- Pregnancy: how to help protect you and your baby
- Immunisations for young people
- Infant immunisation poster
- Immunisations: resources for schools
- Infectious diseases: schools and other childcare settings
- Splenectomy: leaflet and card
- Immunisation: why our children must be protected (DVD)
Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)
History of measles and rubella vaccination
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Excerpt about the rarity of serious adverse reactions to the MMR vaccine: Current problems in pharmacovigilance, Vol 21, November 1995, published by the Medicines Control Agency and Committee on Safety of Medicines
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Department of Health report on the 1994 measles rubella immunisation campaign One Year On
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Report and evaluation on measles-rubella immunisation campaign in the mid-1990s
2018 marked 50 years since the introduction of the first measles containing vaccine into the UK childhood immunisation programme. View our online measles blog and follow the timeline to see how the programme has evolved over the last 50 years.
Communications toolkit
A MMR, MenACWY and COVID-19 vaccines communications toolkit for universities is available to download.
- MMR catch-up for 10 to 11 year old children: information for GPs
- Measles: don't let your child catch it flyer
- Measles: Don't let your child catch it - poster
- Measles: Don't let your child catch it flyer (for GPs)
- MMR for all: general leaflet
- Measles: resources for local government
- Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR): use of combined vaccine instead of single vaccines
- Think measles: poster about measles in young people
- Think measles: patient leaflet for young people
- Think measles: poster for young people
- Rubella resources
- Thinking of getting pregnant?
- Measles outbreak
- Measles: protect yourself, protect others
- Measles and rubella elimination UK indicators
- Protecting children during outbreaks: immunisation in schools
Pertussis (whooping cough)
- Whooping cough vaccination programme for pregnant women: extension to 2014
- Vaccination against pertussis (whooping cough) for pregnant women
- Pertussis: guidelines for public health management in a healthcare setting
- Whooping cough: vaccination in pregnancy programme resources
- Pertussis (whooping cough): information for healthcare professionals
- Pertussis: guidelines for public health management
Training resources
E-learning immunisation resources
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an interactive immunisation e-learning course, written in line with the national minimum training standards and consisting of 7 knowledge sessions with accompanying assessments, is available for all healthcare practitioners with a role in immunisation - registration is free of charge
Immunisation of pregnant woman
The immunisation of pregnant woman and neonates slidesets have been developed to support the delivery of immunisation training to health care workers providing or advising on immunisation of pregnant women:
- background, history and attitudes towards maternal vaccination
- influenza, COVID-19 and pertussis vaccines
- selective vaccination programmes for neonates
- pre- and post-natal viral rash illness inadvertent vaccination
- governance considerations, challenges to achieving high vaccine coverage, horizon scanning and resources
- Immunisation update webinars for primary care immunisers
- Immunisation training guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Flu immunisation training recommendations
- Pertussis (whooping cough) immunisation for pregnant women: resources and training
- MenB and MenACWY programmes: advanced training slides
- MenB and MenACWY programmes: video training guide
- Immunisation training of healthcare support workers: national minimum standards and core curriculum
- The Green Book multiple choice questions
- Immunisation training standards for healthcare practitioners
Tuberculosis
Please see the BCG vaccination programme collection for further information.
Vaccine handling and protocols
- Vaccine incident guidance: responding to vaccine errors
- Protocol for ordering, storing and handling vaccines
- Vaccine storage management: Care Quality Commission inspection
- Influenza vaccine and porcine gelatine: guidance for health professionals
- Off-label vaccine: leaflets
- Inadvertent vaccination in pregnancy (VIP)
- Vaccines stored outside the recommended temperature range
- Keep your vaccines healthy poster and magnet
Infographics
Last updated 18 October 2021 + show all updates
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Added link to Hepatitis B vaccination programmes.
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Updated Tuberculosis section.
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Added link to the BCG vaccination programme collection.
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Added link to the MMR, MenACWY and COVID-19 vaccines communications toolkit for universities.
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Added the use of human and animal products in vaccines guide.
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Added the COVID-19 vaccination programme link.
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Added immunisation update webinars for primary care immunisers.
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Added flu immunisation training recommendations.
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Added Immunisation training guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Added link to the pneumococcal infant programme.
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Added 'MMR catch-up for 10 to 11 year old children: information for GPs' to the MMR section of the collection.
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Added link to 'FMD guidance for recipients of PHE supplied vaccines'.
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Added the UK and international immunisation schedules comparison tool and link to the HPV universal programme collection.
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Added link to the measles blog.
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Added Measles: a resource for local government to measles collection.
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Added 'BCG: which vaccine should you use poster' document.
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Added 'visual guide to vaccines poster'.
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Added immunisations resources for schools.
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Added training slide set link for BCG Vaccine AJV.
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Added BCG transition to licensed vaccine letter to Tuberculosis section.
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Added Protecting your children during outbreak: immunisation in schools.
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Added Measles and rubella elimination UK publication to the MMR section.
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Added link to the HPV for MSM programme page.
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Added link to the current e-learning course.
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Added Measles: protect yourself, protect others leaflet.
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Added the national minimum standards and core curriculum for immunisation training for registered healthcare practitioners guidance document.
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Added the HPV vaccination for men who have sex with men evaluation report
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Added measles poster and leaflets to raise awareness of measles outbreaks.
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Added immunisation in pregnancy training resources.
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Vaccination timeline infographic updated to include the hexavalent combination vaccine (DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB).
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Added leaflet: HPV vaccination guide from September 2017.
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Added guidance on the infant hexavalent combination vaccine (DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB).
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Add 'MMR leaflet: Have you had your MMR?'.
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New HPV factsheet for health professionals.
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New template letter for parents of babies who missed BCG immunisation
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Added guidance for the unlicensed BCG vaccine, in response to a vaccine shortage: training material for healthcare professionals; advice for healthcare professionals; guide for parents and carers.
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Addied immunisation infographics to the collection.
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New leaflet: Pregnancy: how to help protect you and your baby which describes the vaccinations that help protect you and your baby during and after pregnancy.
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Added letter about expiry extension for SSI BCG vaccine batch 114022A.
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Added: Responding to cold chain failures involving the LAIV.
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Added 'Immunisations for young people' leaflet, updated to match the current schedule.
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Updated with current leaflet about pre-school immunisations.
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Added immunisation training resources: competence assessment tool and quality framework.
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Added leaflet on vaccines and porcine gelatine.
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Added details of introduction of MenB and MenACWY vaccines.
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The following have been added to the collection under 'vaccine handling and protocols': off-label vaccine: leaflets; cold chain leaflet: vaccines stored outside the recommended temperature range
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Added links to vaccine in pregnancy surveillance advice.
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Added vaccine incident guidance, one page guide for patients with incomplete or uncertain histories, and guidance about porcine gelatine content in Fluenz(R). Restructured with better headings.
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Vaccination against pertussis (whooping cough) for pregnant women guidance added under documents and pertussis (whooping cough) headings.
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Updated to add 'Use of Infanrix-IPV+Hib in the infant schedule: information for healthcare professionals' guidance.
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Updated to include routine childhood immunisations from July 2014
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Added letter about schedule change to HPV vaccination programme.
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Updated to include links to the complete routine immunisation schedule from summer 2014 and new vaccines for 2014 poster.
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Meningitis C leaflet for university students added. Grouped documents by topic. Removed documents that are available from their own topic collections.
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The guidance 'Protocol for ordering, storing and handling vaccines' was added to the collection.
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Removed vaccine uptake documents from this collection; collected separately in 'vaccine uptake' collection.
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Updated the immunisation section to add a link for ordering publications online; revised description of some document links.
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Added 'Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in GP patients 1 September 2013 to 31 December 2013' and 'Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in healthcare workers 1 September 2013 to 31 December 2013'
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Added 'Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in healthcare workers 1 September 2013 to 30 November 2013' and 'Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in GP patients 1 September 2013 to 30 November 2013'.
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Added 'Annual HPV vaccine coverage 2012 to 2013: by PCT and SHA' and 'Annual HPV vaccine coverage 2012 to 2013: by PCT and area team'.
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Added 'Pertussis vaccination programme for pregnant women 2012 to 2013: monthly data by area team (England)'.
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Added 'Seasonal flu vaccine uptake data for GP Patients: provisional monthly data for 1 September 2013 to 31 October 2013' and 'Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in healthcare workers 2013-2014: provisional monthly data for 1 September 2013 to 31 October 2013'.
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Added poster promoting flu jabs to those at risk.
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Added 'Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake monthly survey 2013 to 2014 user guide', 'Prenatal pertussis vaccine uptake surveys 2013 to 2014 quick reference guide' and a revised version of the 'Prenatal pertussis vaccine uptake surveys 2013 to 2014 user guide'.
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First published.