Why is measles on the rise?

Having endured months of restrictions on our freedoms to deal with Covid-19, we now face a major health threat entirely of our own making: vaccine hesitancy. Measles – a centuries-old contagious disease which can lead to serious complications – is on the rise. Hospitals in Birmingham are dealing with their biggest outbreak in years. Health experts are warning that, unless more children are vaccinated, more admissions should be expected.

This should worry, but not surprise us. In some areas and groups in London, coverage of the first MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) dose is as low as 69.5 per cent. Approximately 10 per cent of children in the UK are unprotected from measles by the time they start school, with coverage at 12 year lows. The country is well below the 95 per cent required for herd immunity: just 84.5 per cent of people were fully vaccinated last year.