Kirklees Council offers drop-in clinics for measles jabs

Kirklees Council is offering free jabs at pop-up clinics this week

Drop-in clinics for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations will be offered in part of West Yorkshire as cases rise.

It comes after figures revealed current vaccination levels in Kirklees were below the level needed for herd immunity.

Cases of measles in West Yorkshire have quadrupled, according to government figures.

The council said it wanted to "encourage" families to get protected.

Jackie Ramsay, cabinet member for health and social care, said: "Measles is not just a childhood disease and can be serious at any age.

"To achieve herd immunity the community vaccination rate needs to be above 95%."

Herd immunity is a scientific term describing the point at which a population is protected from a disease, either by enough people being vaccinated or by people having developed antibodies by having the disease.

Statistics covering the period from April 2021 to March 2022 show 91.5% of 24-month-old children in Kirklees had received their first of two doses, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The percentage of five-year-olds who had received their first dose was 94.9%, but only 90.6% of five-year-olds had received both the first and second doses.

Figures from the UK Health Security Agency said there had been four suspected cases of measles in Kirklees since the start of the year.

However, four suspected cases were reported across the whole of West Yorkshire during the week ending 21 January, and 16 in the following week.

The highly infectious disease can spread very quickly among the unvaccinated, especially in settings like nurseries and schools.

After both MMR doses, 99% of people are protected against measles and rubella, and 88% are protected against mumps.

Ms Ramsay said: "We want to encourage families to come forward to get protection."

She said the community clinic van would be visiting Tesco on Bradford Road, Batley, from 16:30 GMT until 18:30 GMT on Wednesday, with staff offering free jabs.

It would also be located at Dewsbury Town Hall on Saturday from 10:00 GMT until 11:00 GMT.