RSV maternal vaccination coverage in England: January 2025
Updated 29 May 2025
Applies to England
漏 Crown copyright 2025
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected].
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at /government/publications/rsv-immunisation-for-older-adults-and-pregnant-women-vaccine-coverage-in-england/rsv-maternal-vaccination-coverage-in-england-january-2025
This report presents聽RSV vaccine coverage聽of pregnant women in England for the fifth month of the maternal vaccination programme in January 2025. This is based on data from 2 GP IT suppliers covering 97.7% of all participating General Practices (GPs) across England.
The main findings were that:
-
of the 37,145 women reported as having given birth in the survey month, 19,715 (53.1%) had received an RSV vaccine
-
coverage varied by NHS region: the highest coverage was reported in the South East commissioning region (62.7%) and the lowest among the London commissioning region (44.0%) (see Table 1)
-
coverage varied by ethnic group: the highest coverage was reported among the 鈥極ther ethnic group 鈥� Chinese鈥� category (75.1%) and lowest among 鈥楤lack or Black British 鈥� Caribbean鈥� category (28.2%) (Table 2)
Table 1.聽RSV聽vaccine coverage (%) in pregnant women, measured in January 2025, by NHS commissioning region
| Commissioning region | RSV coverage (%) |
|---|---|
| London | 44.0 |
| Midlands | 49.2 |
| North West | 49.5 |
| East of England | 55.2 |
| North East and Yorkshire | 55.3 |
| South West | 60.5 |
| South East | 62.7 |
Table 2. RSV vaccine coverage (%) in pregnant women, measured in January 2025, by ethnicity
| Ethnic Group | RSV coverage (%) |
|---|---|
| Black or Black British 鈥� Caribbean | 28.2 |
| Black or Black British 鈥� Any other Black background | 32.5 |
| Asian or Asian British 鈥� Pakistani | 33.4 |
| Mixed 鈥� White and Black Caribbean | 35.7 |
| Asian or Asian British 鈥� Bangladeshi | 39.4 |
| Black or Black British 鈥� African | 40.8 |
| Any other ethnic group | 40.8 |
| White 鈥� Any other White background | 41.3 |
| Mixed 鈥� White and Black African | 43.2 |
| Mixed 鈥� Any other mixed background | 45.1 |
| Ethnicity not stated | 50.4 |
| Patients with any other Ethnicity Code | 52.4 |
| Asian or Asian British 鈥� Any other Asian background | 53.5 |
| Asian or Asian British 鈥� Indian | 55.4 |
| Mixed 鈥� White and Asian | 55.7 |
| White 鈥� British | 61.1 |
| White 鈥� Irish | 63.1 |
| Other ethnic groups 鈥� Chinese | 75.1 |
Background
The RSV vaccine has been offered to pregnant women in England since September 2024 to address the significant burden of RSV-related illness, hospitalisations and deaths, particularly among infants under 6 months of age and older adults, who are at increased risk of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) (1, 2). In聽2023, the聽Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)聽issued a full statement recommending the implementation of a maternal RSV vaccination programme. This recommendation was based on robust evidence demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of RSV vaccines in protecting infants during their most vulnerable period (1).
The vaccine is recommended as a year-round programme to be administered from聽28 weeks of gestation onwards. This timing aligns with the optimal window for passive antibody transfer to the foetus, ensuring effective protection against severe RSV-related illness (2, 3). From 1 September 2024 (the programme start date), all women who are at least 28 weeks pregnant are advised to receive the vaccine as soon as possible, with vaccination continuing to be recommended for all eligible women throughout pregnancy up until delivery (3). Additionally, the vaccine will be reoffered for every subsequent pregnancy to maintain consistent coverage and protection.
The programme is delivered through聽GP and聽maternity services, ensuring accessible vaccination opportunities for eligible pregnant women across England.
Methods
The maternal RSV vaccination report will be released monthly, presenting vaccination uptake data only for the specific reporting month, without cumulative figures from previous months. The reporting period for the current report is from 1 January to 31 January 2024. This report focuses on pregnant women who delivered in the survey month, regardless of gestational age at birth.
GP level RSV vaccine coverage data is automatically uploaded via participating GP IT suppliers to the ImmForm website each month. ImmForm data is validated and analysed by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to check data completeness, query any anomalous data and describe epidemiological trends.
Since September 2024, the reporting data collected includes:
- denominator: number of women who delivered in the survey month, excluding miscarriages and stillbirths, regardless of gestational age
- numerator: number of women receiving RSV vaccination from week 28 of pregnancy up until delivery
- refusals: number of women in the denominator who refused RSV vaccination between week 28 of pregnancy and delivery
To ensure accurate denominators are extracted from GP IT systems by the automated survey and precise coverage estimates are calculated, the methodology uses a monthly data extraction process with a 3-month reporting lag to allow enough time for the relevant information to be recorded. Consequently, the data collection period starts 2 months after the extraction date. For example, data for September was extracted on 1 December 2024. 聽
Participation and data quality
The data presented in this report for January 2025 is based on data received from all GP聽IT supplier, accounting for 97.7% of all national GP聽practices participating during the reporting month (January 2025).
Discussion
This is the fifth monthly report of the RSV vaccine coverage for women who delivered in the fourth month of the RSV vaccination programme (January 2025).
This month鈥檚 report includes data from both major 2 GP IT suppliers significantly expanding the data available in previous reports. It includes data from 97.7% of GPs in England, up from 40.4% of participating GPs previously. This has been made possible by improvements in data quality and permits a more representative analysis of coverage and trends across England.
Overall, the monthly RSV maternal vaccine coverage for January 2025 was 53.1%. In addition, this report reveals notable differences in coverage with uptake across the commissioning region differing by 18.7% and a gap of nearly 46.9% percentage points observed in the uptake between ethnic groups.
Since the RSV maternal vaccination programme has now been running for 5 months (up to the reporting month), an increasing number of pregnant women are receiving the vaccine during their eligible window. This growing awareness and notification from gestation week 20 onwards have contributed to a gradual increase in monthly vaccine uptake from 40.5% in September 2024 (4) to the current figure reported for January 2025. As the programme continues and more women are informed earlier in their pregnancies, monthly vaccination coverage is expected to gradually increase.
References
2.
3. RSV vaccination of pregnant women for infant protection: information for healthcare practitioners
4. RSV maternal vaccination coverage in England: September 2024