Immunisations: introduction and key points

Immunisation is one of the most important tools for protecting individuals and the community from serious infectious diseases. Before the development of safe and effective polio and measles vaccines, a quarter of a million children were affected by measles every other year and epidemics of poliomyelitis (polio) affected many thousands in the UK. Polio is now eradicated from the UK, and annual measles infections remain low due to high vaccination rates.

Scotland’s immunisation programme

The Scottish Immunisation Programme routinely offers babies and children protection against Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (whooping cough), Poliomyelitis (polio), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Hepatitis B, Meningococcal disease, Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR), Pneumococcal disease, Rotavirus, and Influenza (flu). 

Young people are routinely offered vaccine boosters against Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio and Meningococcal disease. They are also offered vaccines against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and flu.

For older adults, routine vaccines offered protect against flu, Pneumococcal disease, Shingles and more recently COVID-19.

The COVID-19 vaccine has now joined the flu vaccine as part of the seasonal vaccination program for various population groups. As the COVID-19 vaccination primary course and booster offer moves towards a more targeted offer to protect those at higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness, please refer to the Public Health Scotland COVID-19 vaccination pages for further information on eligible groups.

A range of other vaccines are offered to individuals belonging to specific groups or those at risk e.g. flu vaccine for health care workers, pregnant women, individuals without a spleen and those with specific long-term health conditions or children with medical conditions from 6 months of age or the HPV vaccine to men who have sex with men.

NHS Inform provides a comprehensive online guide to immunisation and vaccines including why immunisation is important, when to immunise, what vaccines are available and how they protect against serious diseases such as measles, meningitis, whooping cough and polio. See also Public Health Scotland immunisation pages.

Resources about UK immunisation programmes

The Public Health England (now the UK Health Security Agency, UKHSA) publication, Immunisation against Infectious Diseases (the 'Green Book') details the history of immunisation and immunisation advice since it was first used in 1786 in the UK, and has the latest information on vaccines and vaccination procedures for vaccine-preventable infectious diseases in the UK. It provides a detailed overview of all aspects of vaccination and immunisation, from consent, adverse events, monitoring and surveillance, and UK immunisation schedules for different risk groups. Vaccination and immunisation are used interchangeably in this section but have slightly different meanings as the Green Book described in further detail.

NHS Education Scotland also provides information for health professionals relating to immunisation and vaccination, including seasonal flu. 

For further details on the national childhood immunisation schedule and other routine and non-routine immunisations and vaccines, see the NHS Inform website, the NHS Inform immunisation schedule and the Public Health Scotland Immunisation site.

Immunisations: policy context

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provides advice on vaccines and immunisation strategies in the UK. The JCVI is an independent expert advisory committee that advises UK Secretaries of State for Health on communicable diseases that are preventable or potentially preventable through immunisation. It was established in England and Wales under the National Health Service Act and although the committee has no statutory basis in Scotland or Northern Ireland, it fulfils the same role and has the same responsibilities.

The Chief Medical Officer routinely issues advice and guidance to health professionals, following JCVI recommendations, on changes to the immunisation programme.*

* Searching with the terms vaccination and immunisation will identify many if not all relevant entries

Scotland began a Vaccination Transformation Programme (VTP) in April 2018. This aims to modernise the delivery of vaccinations by progressively moving away from a model of GP delivery to one based on NHS Board/Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) delivery. See the Public Health Scotland VTP page.