"The results demonstrate that teenagers feel vaccines are important and that confidence in the routine vaccination programme is high in both teenagers and parents."
A national survey has found that the majority of young people and their parents feel it’s important to be vaccinated and protected against meningitis and septicemia.
The online survey, commissioned by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), explored the attitudes of young people and their parents to vaccinations. Around 1,000 young people (school years 9 to 11) and 1,000 parents were surveyed.
The results demonstrate that teenagers feel vaccines are important and that confidence in the routine vaccination programme is high in both teenagers and parents. This is consistent with the results of a previous survey conducted in 2019.
The results of this survey will be used to inform the development of the routine immunisation programme and tailor healthcare professional resources and training materials.
Findings from the survey
89% of young people said that it was important for them to get vaccinated, and 80% of them reported that they had received all the vaccines they were offered. Parents and teenagers also reported a high level of confidence in the vaccine programme and agreed that vaccines work and are safe.
Levels of disease severity
Nearly all the young people who took part in the survey reported that meningitis and septicaemia were serious diseases. Additionally, young people who had been taught about vaccines at school were more likely to believe that all disease was a greater risk than vaccines given to prevent disease.
Meningitis and vaccination
Most parents feel that it is important for their child to be protected against meningitis (95%) and septicaemia (93%). Furthermore only 9% of parents had refused or delayed a meningitis (MenACWY) vaccine.
Trusted Information
Most young people and parents stated that the NHS and health professionals remain the most trusted source of information on vaccination. This is consistent with the results of previous surveys exploring parental attitudes.
Only 7% of young people ranked social media in their top 3 trusted sources of information and 30% of teenagers had seen something about vaccinations on social media in the last 12 months.
Meningitis Now’s Director of Information and Support Bev Corbett says, “whilst the results of this survey are encouraging, there is room for improvement in the way we talk about vaccination and meningitis and engage young people and their parents. We need to take every opportunity to talk to young people about the importance of vaccination in preventing life-threatening diseases like meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia”.
If you have a question or concern about vaccination or vaccines available as part of the NHS routine immunisation schedule, call our nurse-led helpline on 0808 80 10 388 or email helpline@meningitisnow.org.
For more detailed results see the survey here.
