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The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned the Government the UK will be hit with “more outbreaks of preventable diseases” if it fails to commission community pharmacies to provide school age children with vaccinations.

The NPA said an “outdated” childhood vaccine programme coupled with a “dangerous and growing wave of vaccine hesitancy” was jeopardising children’s wellbeing.

It said it was concerned vaccinations for pupils were being administered by GPs in schools without any involvement from pharmacies despite rolling out Covid and flu jabs.

The NPA revealed pharmacies across the country “have seen a huge surge in patients requesting private vaccinations for children” in the wake of the meningitis outbreak in Berkshire and Kent.

“Many patients already expect their pharmacy to provide vaccinations for young people,” the NPA said, referencing its poll showing 55 per cent of 1,748 adults want vaccination services for children offered in pharmacies while 39 per cent found it difficult to access their GP compared to six per cent who struggled to access a pharmacy.

An analysis by the NPA also found no national childhood vaccination in the country reached the World Health Organisation’s uptake target of 95 per cent. The number of teenagers receiving the meningitis vaccine has fallen by 16 per cent since 2018, with one in four eligible year nine and 10 pupils not getting a jab.

The number of teenagers receiving the tetanus, diphtheria, and polio vaccine has fallen by 15 per cent in the last eight years. The NPA said the number of school children being vaccinated against flu has “plummeted and are far short of national targets”.

Just 52 per cent and 43 per cent of eligible children and 15 to 16-year-olds respectively were vaccinated this year, compared with 60 per cent of children in 2018.

Urging the Government to commission pharmacies to provide catch-up vaccines for children over 11 who missed one or more of their childhood vaccinations, the NPA said: “Pharmacies are trusted places for patients to receive vaccines, are trusted by patients and are also well placed to tackle cultural challenges around vaccine hesitancy.”

NPA chair Olivier Picard warned falling childhood vaccination rates “could have tragic consequences if not addressed”.

“Without urgent action to tackle a dangerous and growing wave of vaccine hesitancy, we risk seeing more heartbreaking outbreaks of preventable illness that we have already seen in parts of the UK recently,” he said.

“Pharmacies stand ready and able to support the NHS tackle this. We need reform to an outdated childhood vaccination programme which recent evidence suggests has seen declining levels of uptake, with potentially worrying consequences.”