Using data to inform and improve vaccination uptake in Leeds

Local authorities play a critical role in responding to such challenges. While they do not directly commission or deliver vaccination programmes, they are uniquely positioned to understand population health needs, address inequalities, and bring together system partners to act accordingly. 

In Leeds, however, several barriers limited the ability to do this effectively. Without direct time intensive support from primary care providers, uptake information relied upon The UK Health Security Agency’s  COVER data  (Cover of Vaccination Evaluated Rapidly – which provides UK quarterly data and commentary on coverage achieved by the UK childhood immunisation programme) which is not does not always provide the granularity needed. 

The difficulty was identifying which communities and neighbourhoods had the lowest uptake, with little insight into the ethnicity, language, and cultural factors influencing vaccination behaviours. The system relied heavily on quarterly national datasets, which were insufficiently responsive during an active outbreak, and intelligence across primary care was fragmented, preventing a shared understanding of need and making coordinated action at scale more challenging. 

To address these challenges, Leeds City Council’s Public Health Intelligence team created an MMRV vaccination data dashboard. This dashboard provided a near real-time, granular picture of vaccination uptake across children and young people aged one to 25 years. It brought together key data on vaccination status, geography down to MSOA level, ethnicity, and language, alongside the ability to track trends and monitor vaccinations administered per week as they were delivered. This created, for the first time, a shared and dynamic understanding of coverage across the local system. 

The introduction of the dashboard transformed how data was used to inform action. It enabled public health teams and partners to identify specific communities and localities with low uptake, allowing vaccination clinics and outreach activity to be targeted in places that were both accessible and trusted. The inclusion of ethnicity and language data meant that engagement could be tailored more effectively, with appropriate translation services, culturally sensitive communications, and collaboration with relevant community leaders and champions. This helped ensure that interventions were not only targeted but also appropriate to the needs of different populations. 

During the outbreak, the dashboard also strengthened system coordination. By providing a shared source of intelligence, it enabled more effective collaboration between local authority teams, primary care, commissioners, and UKHSA. Regular sharing of insights helped to galvanise action, align priorities, and demonstrate the impact of interventions. Primary care colleagues were able to better understand their collective progress at Primary Care Network level during the outbreak, supporting a more coordinated and proactive approach to improving uptake. 

A key advantage of the dashboard was its ability to provide near real-time feedback on interventions. This allowed teams to monitor the immediate impact of outreach clinics, campaigns, and community engagement activities, and to adapt their approaches quickly in response to emerging evidence. Moving away from static, retrospective data towards a more responsive model enabled a continuous cycle of learning and improvement. 

The dashboard has also provided significant support to the planning and delivery of the proactive approach to improving vaccination uptake in Leeds.  It has enabled Leeds to identify previously unrecognised inequalities in vaccine uptake at a much more granular level, including within specific communities that had not been visible through traditional data sources. 

The dashboard informed targeted programmes such as community champion models, VCSE grant funding programmes, planning and delivery of outreach vaccination clinics, while also supporting successful funding bids and influencing commissioning intentions.  

Overall, the development of the MMRV dashboard has fundamentally changed how Leeds understands and responds to vaccination uptake. By combining granular data with local insight and strong system partnerships, the city has been able to move towards a more targeted, equitable, and evidence-driven approach. This demonstrates the critical role of data in enabling local authorities to lead effective action on vaccination uptake, respond quickly and appropriately to disease outbreaks whilst reducing health inequalities across their populations.