Hackney has reported the lowest uptake of the MMR vaccine among all London boroughs, with just seven in ten children receiving both doses by the age of five.
This comes amid a sharp national decline in vaccination rates, worsened by growing vaccine hesitancy during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has left many children across the country unprotected against preventable diseases.
New data for 2024 to 2025 shows that none of the main childhood vaccines in England met the 95% coverage target set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Nationally, only 83.7% of five-year-olds received both measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine doses — a slight drop from 83.9% the previous year and the lowest level since 2009 to 2010.
London continues to lag behind the rest of the country, with just 69.6% of children fully vaccinated with both MMR doses, according to UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data.
Boroughs including Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich had the highest uptake, with over 80% of children receiving both jabs and therefore, full protection.
However, in Hackney, only 60.8% of children had received both jabs by the age of five in 2024 to 2025. This was even lower in 2022 to 2023, standing at 56.3%.
To see how your borough ranks, use The Standard’s interactive map below.
Speaking to LBC, Mr Kinnock said: "There's been a 10-year trend in declining take-up of vaccines, and I think obviously the vaccine hesitancy that came after the pandemic has definitely not helped.
"These conspiracy theorists, who are peddling this nonsense and rubbish, we've got to take them on, we've got to defeat them in our arguments and drown out the noise that they're making."
The Government is working with GPs, schools and public health authorities to create local and national campaigns in a bid to increase take-up, Mr Kinnock said.
Nationally, some 91.9% of five-year-olds received one dose of the MMR vaccine, unchanged from 2023 to 2024 and the lowest level since 2010 to 2011, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Uptake of the first MMR dose at 24 months stood at 88.9% in 2024 to 2025, unchanged on the previous year, but again the lowest figure since 2009 to 2010.
Last month, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, said the UK must “redouble its efforts” to vaccinate more children
The Health Secretary stressed that vaccines “save lives” and said the Government will be carrying out work throughout the remainder of the year to boost uptake.
Measles is highly infectious and can lead to serious complications.
People with this infection have a number of cold and flu-like symptoms and a rash appears a few days after symptoms start.
On rare occasions, measles can also lead to meningitis and brain swelling, which can cause long-term disabilities or even death.
There were 11,162 reported cases of measles in the UK last year, resulting in five deaths.
So far this year, there have been 3,268 reported cases of measles and two deaths.
