Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland
Quarter and year ending 31 March 2026

About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides a quarterly update of immunisation uptake rates for children in Scotland. Immunisation programmes for children aim to protect the individual child from many serious infectious diseases and prevent the spread of disease in the wider population. Information is shown for NHS Boards and local authorities covering children at 12 months, 24 months, 5 years and 6 years of age. The data are also broken down by ethnicity and by measures of where children live, including Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) and urban rural classification. These data are available from the Vaccination Surveillance Dashboard.

Guidance on why and when to immunise in Scotland is available via NHS inform, including details of the vaccines offered and the diseases they protect against.

Main points

• Although overall vaccine uptake in Scotland remains high, it has been gradually declining over time. In quarter ending March 2026, decreases in uptake were observed in vaccines measured at 12 months, 24 months and 5 years, while uptake measured at 6 years increased compared with the previous quarter.

A line chart showing percentage uptake of 6-in-1, MenB, PCV and Rotavirus immunisations separately by 12 months of age and by quarter, from quarter ending March 2017 to quarter ending March 2026. Details are provided in the accompanying text.

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Immunisation uptake rates by 12 months of age*, by quarter

*Children turning 12 months of age in the relevant quarter e.g. for Jan-Mar 2026 this would be children born during Jan-Mar 2025.

• In the most recent quarter, uptake for children aged 12 months was: pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) (94.1%), 6-in-1 (93.2%), MenB (93.4%), rotavirus (91.3%).
• Most children received their booster vaccines by 24 months of age: Hib/MenC (91.1%), PCV (92.1%) and MenB (91.7%).
• 91.7% of children had the first dose of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine by 24 months of age; uptake was 95.4% among children aged 5 years.
• 89.6% had received a second dose of MMR by age 5 years; uptake was 90.6% among those aged 6 years.
• The 4-in-1 vaccine is offered at 3 years 4 months old and provides the booster dose (4th dose) of protection against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio. 90.1% of children had the 4-in-1 booster at age 5 years; uptake was 91.1% among children aged 6 years.
• Uptake was lower for children living in the most deprived areas compared with those in the least deprived areas. Differences between the most and least deprived quintiles were 4.7, 4.0, 3.6 and 3.4 percentage points for 6 in 1, rotavirus, MenB and PCV vaccines at 12 months, and 10.3 and 9.9 percentage points for the second dose of MMR and 4 in 1 vaccines at 5 years. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is Scotland’s standard measure of area-based relative deprivation.
• Uptake varied by ethnicity and urban rural classification across all vaccines and age groups, with patterns similar to previous quarters. Ethnicity classifications are based on the Scottish 2022 Census categories.

Background

As a public health measure, immunisations are very effective in reducing the burden of disease. The European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that on a national basis at least 95% of children are immunised against diseases preventable by immunisation and targeted for elimination or control. These include diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), measles, mumps and rubella.

Rotavirus vaccine should be given within strict age limits, with the first dose before 15 weeks and second dose before 24 weeks of age. These age limits mean that if a child is not immunised with the first dose early enough, due to missed appointments for example, then it may not be possible for them to complete the full 2 dose course before 24 weeks. This explains why uptake of the completed 2 dose course of rotavirus vaccine is slightly lower than completed courses of the other vaccines offered in the first year of life.

The routine childhood immunisation schedule was updated on 1 July 2025 and 1 January 2026. These changes are not reflected in this report because the age measures used mean the children presented in this report were vaccinated under the previous schedule, even though some children may subsequently receive future vaccines under the new schedule.

These changes will not be reflected in these statistics until the first children in the affected cohort reach the relevant age reporting measures.

For details, see: Changes from 1 July 2025 and Changes from 1 January 2026.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be September 2026.