Dear colleagues,

You will be aware that practices are required to participate in a national vaccines and immunisations catch-up campaign each year, as a requirement of the GP contracts.

We are writing to confirm that the 2026/27 national vaccines and immunisations catch-up campaign will focus on the measles, mumps, rubella (and varicella) (MMR/V) vaccination. The focus is due to recent measles outbreaks and the removal of England’s elimination status.

This letter confirms the details of the national MMR/V catch-up campaign, including what we are doing nationally to encourage uptake and the ask of practices.

Campaign timings

The campaign will run from June 2026 to March 2027 and will focus on the following:

• General practices will be required to undertake local call and recall for eligible individuals aged 12 months to less than 6 years who are missing 1 or 2 doses of MMR/V.
• Practices are asked to support requests for vaccination of individuals aged 6 years up to and including 11 years. This will work as follows:
  • Cohort will be identified through a phased national invite.
  • Where parents and carers contact their practice after receiving an invitation, practices are required to check the individual’s vaccination status for valid vaccinations (for example, given at the correct age and at the correct intervals) and book an appointment for vaccination if clinically appropriate.
  • Further information will follow via the Primary Care Bulletin and Regional cascade, to provide advanced notice of the phased national invites, including the invite communications schedule.

Please note that there is also a selective catch-up of varicella vaccination that was agreed as part of the MMRV roll out in January 2026. The selective catch-up will be for those eligible individuals who have not yet had a chickenpox infection or 2 doses of varicella vaccination. The catch-up will run from Sunday 1 November 2026 to Friday 31 March 2028.

A summary of the requirements can be found in annex A. Most are existing activities and systematic checks to improve uptake of measles-containing vaccine, which practices will already be carrying out for their eligible patients.

Funding and vaccine ordering

Funding for participation in the national catch-up campaign is included in global sum payments. Practices will also be able to receive an item of service payment of £12.06 for each vaccination given as part of this activity.

Practices will also be able to earn additional funding through the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) for the delivery of MMR/V vaccinations, specifically:

• indicator VI002: the percentage of children who reached 18 months old in the preceding 12 months, who have received at least 1 dose of MMR or MMRV between the ages of 12 and 18 months
• indicator VI003: the percentage of children who reached 5 years old in the preceding 12 months, who have received a reinforcing dose of DTaP/IPV and at least 2 doses of MMR or MMRV between the ages of 1 and 5 years

 See QOF guidance for further details.

The MMR and MMRV vaccines remain available for practices to order through ImmForm.

Thank you for supporting this vital campaign and helping protect children against these highly infectious diseases.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Temmink
Director of Vaccinations
NHS England

Annex A: summary of requirements of general practices

Practices must complete the following activities:

Leadership and oversight

• Ensure the named practice immunisation lead is engaged and oversees participation in the catch-up campaign, including informing the local commissioner of the outcome of the campaign.

Applying contractual standards

• Apply vaccination and immunisation core contractual standards to the planning and delivery of the MMR/V catch-up campaign (see part 9A of the General Medical Service Regulations and guidance).

Proactive checks

• Undertake the following proactive, systematic checks to ensure all records are accurate:
  • Check patient paper records and Electronic Patient Record.
  • If necessary, correct computerised record to ensure accurate MMR/V vaccination status is recorded.
  • Confirm that the patient is still in the area – if they are not, remove them from the list and inform the local Child Health Information Service (CHIS).

Inviting eligible patients

• Actively invite all those missing 1 or both doses of MMR/V, aged 12 months to less than 6 years, to a vaccination clinic held in the practice or to book an appointment.
• Priority should be given to patients missing both doses, as this is where most clinical value is gained.
• A minimum of 3 invitations per patient should be sent as follows:
  • 1st invitation to offer an appointment.
  • 2nd invitation to offer an appointment, confirm receipt or check if the parent or guardian already has a record of vaccination; for example, in the Personal Child Health Record.
  • 3rd invitation should be a practice healthcare professional discussion with the parent or guardian, either face-to-face or by telephone. Practices can use UKHSA resources in call and recall discussions to support informed choice and improved uptake and coverage. At this point, also check for and offer any other missing childhood immunisations.

Follow-up, flexibility and opportunistic vaccination

• Consider options to offer vaccinations more flexibly to the eligible cohort.
• Ensure that parents/guardians of who need a second dose are invited and attend, with invitation sent to their parents and guardians, using a minimum of 3 invitations.
• Continue to follow up, recall and update computerised records for patients who do not respond or fail to attend scheduled clinics or appointments, and offer opportunistically when eligible children present.
• If there is no response achieved by following the above process, practices must:
  • notify school nursing service or the school-aged immunisation provider to follow up at school
  • inform local commissioning team of the outcome of the campaign
  • implement a Make Every Contact Count (MECC) approach for review of MMR/V vaccination status and administration of MMR/V vaccine; every point of patient contact (for example, booking, attending the practice, text and written communications) should promote a review of MMR/V vaccination status and, if required, booking

Patient record review and data quality

• Review and update patient record to ensure accuracy:
  • Check registered populations, vaccine eligibility and status, investigate any discrepancies and correct the record accordingly.
  • Check the CHIS report of unvaccinated children, investigate any discrepancies and correct the record accordingly.
  • Update scanned vaccination records that have not been coded to the patient record, using the correct coding and available template.
  • Confirm that the patient is still in the area – if they are not, remove them from the list and inform the local CHIS.
  • Ensure that there are up-to-date phone numbers, email addresses and addresses for patients who are eligible for vaccination, including preferred contact methods and whether there are additional literacy issues or language needs.

 For children aged 6 to 11 years only

• Practices must have a process in place to respond to patients aged 6 to 11 who contact the practice following the national MMR invite; this should include:
  • checking vaccination status (including validity of doses in line with age and interval requirements)
  • where clinically appropriate, arranging vaccination or updating patient records following review of vaccination history

Publication reference: PRN02533