There are several opportunities to immunise individuals with MMR:
- the immunisation programme schedules young children to receive two doses of MMR at 12-15 months and pre-school
This is the ideal and if enough people are vaccinated (95% of children) then we will stop rubella circulating and coming into contact with pregnant women
- children who have missed or delayed one or both of these doses to have a catch up vaccination at any stage
If you have delayed vaccination you can catch up at any stage. The more children vaccinated the less chance rubella has of circulating. It is never too late
If children reach their teens still having missed one or both MMR immunisations then they can receive one or two doses of the MMR vaccine at the point they have their DTP (13-18 years old)
- entering college, further education, prison or military service
These are all opportunities to check a person’s immunisation history.
Remember that to stop rubella circulating and damaging unborn children we need 95% of children to receive the MMR vaccinations.
As a further measure, women who are thinking about becoming pregnant can also take action by:
- asking your GP to check your rubella susceptibility
- receiving a dose of the MMR vaccination if your GP thinks you may be susceptible to rubella infection.
Ideally this should happen at least a month before you become pregnant.
