Polio vaccination campaign letter
Published 10 August 2022
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/polio-vaccination-campaign-letter/polio-vaccination-campaign-letter
NHS England - Regional Director, London
NHS England - Medical Director, London
NHS England - Regional Director of Public Health, London
NHS England - Head of Public Health Commissioning, London
Integrated Care Board Chief Executives, London
Integrated Care Board Chief Medical Officers, London
General Practitioners, London
School Age Immunisation Providers
Local Medical Committees covering London
Local Authority Chief Executives, London
Local Authority Directors of Public Health, London
For information:
Chief Pharmacists of NHS Trusts, London
NHS Foundation Trusts, London
NHS Trusts, London
10 August 2022
Polio vaccination campaign
Dear Colleague,
We are writing to you to set out urgent actions that we need to take together following the detection of poliovirus type 2 (PV2) in London sewage, including the polio vaccination of all children aged 1 to 9 years old in London.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has declared a national enhanced polio incident response and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have advised that an urgent supplemental polio vaccination strategy is now required to respond to this public health emergency.
The JCVI advise that, as well as the ongoing catch-up offer, a supplementary Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) campaign should be implemented for children aged 1 to 9 years in London, including those with a complete course of polio vaccination.
This means all children aged 1 to 9 years in London will now be offered a dose of IPV-containing vaccine irrespective of vaccination status to prevent cases of paralysis due to poliovirus and to interrupt transmission of Vaccine Derived Polio Virus type 2 (VDPV2) in the community.
For immediate action
The IPV booster campaign is an urgent intervention and should be prioritised in the affected boroughs. Overall, the programme should be considered equivalent priority to the other planned time sensitive immunisation programmes including coronavirus (COVID-19) and seasonal influenza.
Therefore, we are asking all London systems to work with their local partners to support delivery as soon as possible, starting no later than 15 August, with all 1 to 9 year olds having been offered a vaccination by 26 September.
Delivery models
Most routine childhood vaccinations are offered by general practice and we anticipate GPs will continue to offer vaccination in line with their routine offer, extending where possible to all 1 to 9 year olds.
Recognising the urgency and the pressures on general practice, we need systems to work with partners to design and implement additional capacity to support delivery.
Drawing on the experience and expertise of local partners and networks, this must include targeted outreach to under-vaccinated and unregistered communities.
NHS London will continue to work with systems to support the development of these delivery plans and additional funding will be made available to systems to support outreach.
Contractual and payment arrangements are being shared directly with providers and further information, including supporting programme resources can be found in the annexes of this letter
Vaccine type and supply
Three IPV containing vaccines that all have the same polio content and are already being used safely in the NHS childhood immunisation programme will be used to strengthen protection across the whole age range. Based on existing approvals, and to support an immediate response, specific products are being recommended for different age-groups and can be administered under a Patient Group Direction (PGD).
Centrally supplied vaccines for the NHS national immunisation programme and for the management of outbreaks can only be ordered through UKHSA via ImmForm. Providers should note the clinical advice regarding the recommended vaccine type by age group and order sufficient amounts of the appropriate vaccines for the clinics they are running.
Accompanying clinical guidance on eligibility can be found here and in Annex A. Where Primary Care Networks (PCNs) are collaborating to deliver at pace and scale, orders and deliveries can be made to a nominated site with an ImmForm account on behalf of the collaborative.
Call and recall
The Child Health Immunisation Services (CHIS) will support regional call and recall services. CHIS will also update point of care recording so that additional doses for those with a complete course can be accurately recorded.
Monitoring
The impact of the polio campaign will be evaluated through monitoring of coverage (including inequalities), continued environmental surveillance, and enhanced surveillance of paralytic polio presentations. A related public health message was cascaded through the CAS alert system on the 22 June.
Engagement and communications
To support uptake, a focused campaign will start now in the London boroughs where VDPV2 has been detected to date. This includes Barnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest as a priority, with a view to rapidly extending to all London boroughs. Rollout beyond these initial boroughs will begin within a week of the start of the programme.
Campaign and communication materials that can be adapted for use locally will be shared in the usual way and can be found on the UKHSA campaign centre. Additionally, public facing communication to support GP practices will be shared shortly, including messaging for websites.
If you have any further queries, in the first instance please contact the NHS England London Region’s Public Health Commissioning Team ENGLAND.londonimms@nhs.net or UKHSA immunisation@phe.gov.uk.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in delivering and supporting the NHS childhood immunisation programme for the important work you are doing and for contributing to ensuring as many children as possible are protected against polio in the capital.
Yours sincerely,
Will Huxter, NHS England (London Region), Director of Primary Care and Public Health Commissioning
Dr Mary Ramsay, UK Health Security Agency, Director of Public Health Programmes (including Immunisation)