Formalise Community Vaccine Equity Networks

The government agrees with the Inquiry that trusted relationships with communities are important to improving vaccine uptake, reducing inequalities and supporting clear, targeted communications. We agree that strong and sustained engagement with communities is important to ensure future vaccination programmes are accessible, effective and responsive to local needs. Building trust takes time and cannot begin only when a pandemic occurs.

The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive recognise that disparities in vaccination coverage persist and that sustained effort is required to improve access and confidence across all communities. Addressing these disparities is an essential part of their approach to vaccines. They are therefore continuing to:

strengthen community engagement and develop tailored approaches to improve vaccine equity

deepen understanding of the barriers to vaccination uptake and take action to address them

In England, the government and delivery partners are acting to improve equity in vaccination coverage among underserved communities. This action is co-ordinated across 4 areas:

making it easier for families to access vaccination services. This includes:

incentivising general practice to improve uptake in areas where rates are low

undertaking a multi-pronged programme of work to improve school-age delivery, overseen by our ministerial taskforce

evaluating new delivery models to improve access to vaccinations, such as through community pharmacies and health visitors

reforming the NHS so that it is best set up to improve vaccination uptake. This includes delegating the commissioning of vaccination services to integrated care boards (ICBs) so that they can:

tailor vaccination services to the needs of local communities

work to improve uptake. The performance of ICBs to improve uptake will be assessed through the NHS Outcomes Framework

giving parents and families more information about vaccination. As set out above, this includes:

provision of accessible resources to support informed consent through a bespoke web resource

delivering evidence-led, targeted national communications (across TV, radio and social media)

supporting healthcare professionals to have confident conversations with families about vaccination

counteracting misinformation and disinformation

investing in modern digital systems for vaccination to improve uptake. This includes:

giving patients and families access to a single vaccination record (viewable in the NHS App in the future)

making sure all relevant healthcare professionals can check vaccination records and record vaccinations

giving the NHS the data it needs to understand and improve vaccination uptake. This will be supplemented by local community-led information sharing with trusted partners

Underpinning these actions, UKHSA is leading work to further improve vaccine confidence and engagement with underserved communities. Through its Immunisation Equity Strategy: commitments for 2025 to 2030, UKHSA works with local authorities, the NHS, and voluntary organisations and community groups to better understand barriers to vaccination and support locally tailored approaches. UKHSA has also established an expert panel of voluntary and community sector organisations to support implementation of the strategy and strengthen links with communities.

In June 2026, UKHSA published a toolkit to support local areas to identify and act on immunisation inequities across all their communities, Understanding and addressing immunisation inequities: a practical toolkit for a collaborative, multi-agency approach, which uses a place-based approach and includes advice on approaches to community engagement and involvement.

NHS England has also published outreach guidance (on NHS Futures - requires sign in) to support commissioners and providers to plan, deliver and evaluate targeted outreach initiatives to understand communities.

Building on learning from the COVID-19 pandemic and wider resilience activity, considerations around equitable vaccine delivery have also been incorporated into preparedness work. For example, immunisation equity was considered through Exercise Pegasus, which brought together government, NHS, local resilience forums and other partners to test pandemic preparedness arrangements, including approaches to reaching groups who may face barriers to accessing vaccination during a future health emergency.

Furthermore, we are taking steps to strengthen collaboration and mutual learning through the UK Four Nations Forum - a UK-wide immunisation forum, convened by UKHSA (established in 2023), that brings together colleagues from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to consider factors contributing to:

declining uptake in some routine immunisation programmes

increasing inequalities across the UK

In 2026, an equity strategy subgroup of the forum is being established to support co-ordination and shared learning across the 4 nations in response to declining coverage and increasing inequalities in routine immunisation programmes. It is intended to support:

co-ordination between the 4 nations

mutual learning about approaches to immunisation inequalities

the sharing of learning on effective interventions

consideration of community engagement approaches

The devolved governments have also established arrangements that support the aims of this recommendation. These include vaccine equity networks, community partnerships, outreach approaches and national immunisation frameworks that have been designed to improve uptake and reduce inequalities. As health is a devolved matter, implementation will continue to reflect the different responsibilities, delivery models and local circumstances in each nation.

Reporting on progress to improve vaccine uptake and reduce inequalities is essential. Evidence on vaccine equity is currently reported through a range of publications and accountability arrangements across the devolved governments. To avoid duplicating existing work, we will focus on aligning any reporting progress with existing assurance and publication routes rather than publishing a single annual report.

Moving forwards, the government and devolved governments will work together to consider how best to:

build on existing community networks and governance structures

share learning on the effectiveness of interventions

identify specific and measurable actions to improve uptake and reduce inequalities

align any reporting on progress with existing assurance and publication routes

This will help avoid duplication while supporting a proportionate and joined-up approach across the UK.

No formal government response published. The Welsh Government had not published a response to the Module 4 report of 16 April 2026 when its page of responses to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry module reports on GOV.WALES was checked on 25 September 2026.

No formal government response published. The Scottish Government had not published a response to the Module 4 report of 16 April 2026 when its collection of responses to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on gov.scot was checked on 25 September 2026.

No formal government response published. The Northern Ireland Executive had not published a response to the Module 4 report of 16 April 2026 when the Executive Office's publications list was checked on 25 September 2026.

No statement on delivery from UK Health Security Agency has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.