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Blair's baby given MMR vaccine only last week
The Independent - United Kingdom; Feb 2, 2002
BY ANDREW GRICE POLITICAL EDITOR

TONY BLAIR'S son, Leo, was given the MMR vaccine last week, The Independent learnt yesterday, as it was disclosed that the number of babies being immunised was lower than ever.

The Prime Minister has refused to bow to pressure to say whether 20- month-old Leo has had the injection. He and his wife, Cherie, fear that, if he does, the family will be drawn into revealing other personal details about their four children, whose privacy they are determined to protect.

Fears about a low take-up of the vaccine were heightened yesterday by an outbreak of measles at a private nursery school in Clapham, south-west London. Three cases had been confirmed with 22 suspected cases being tested, the Department of Health said. None of the infected children have been given the MMR jab, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella but has been controversially linked to autism.

Newspaper reports shortly before Christmas suggesting that Leo had been vaccinated were wrong. It is believed the Blairs always intended Leo to have the vaccine, but delayed it because he was unwell. The Blairs were reluctant to explain this publicly because they feared it would amount to giving a "running commentary" on their children's health. Downing Street, which has consistently refused to disclose whether Leo has had the vaccine, declined to comment last night. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "He has made it clear that he fully supports the policy [of encouraging parents to have their children vaccinated]. In his view, the scientific evidence is clear. He has been completely unequivocal about that."

Downing Street aides noticed a subtle change in Mr Blair's approach on the Jimmy Young programme on BBC Radio 2 on 24 January. It is thought that Leo had the jab two days earlier, when the Blairs were in London. The Prime Minister refused to state whether his son had had the injection. But he said: "We certainly would not ask anybody or say or advise people to have this vaccine if we thought it was the wrong thing for our child. Now I hope that people understand what I'm saying there, but I'm not going to get into the situation of answering a whole lot of details about what treatments Leo has."

Yesterday the Public Health Laboratory Service disclosed that the take- up of the MMR jab was 84.2 per cent, the lowest figure since monitoring began in 1995. The target set by the World Health Organisation to ensure succesful immunisation is 95 per cent. In London, the figure is only 73.4 per cent. The highest take-up is 89.3 per cent in Northern Ireland.

The Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Health Authority said it was investigating around 25 cases of viral illness in the area that includes Clapham. Three had been confirmed as measles. "In all of these cases, the children have either not had their MMR vaccine or have only had one dose," it said.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "The national [take-up] rate is stable. It may not be as high as we want but it is not collapsing." But Liam Fox, the shadow health secretary, said: "The Government's immunisation policy is a public health disaster. Labour health ministers have simply failed to grasp the importance of establishing public confidence in the MMR vaccine."

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ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.