One less thing: Childhood vaccination campaign
Public Health Scotland has developed a campaign which aims to encourage uptake of childhood vaccinations, to help address the declines seen across the programme over the past decade.
The campaign ‘One less thing to worry about’ acknowledges that being a parent can be tough and at times it can feel overwhelming. When you’re tired and stretched, the important decisions can feel hard to make. But knowing your child is vaccinated and protected means one big thing is taken care of, leaving you free to deal with everything else that comes your way.
The campaign will run for approximately 8 weeks from 26 January 2026 across radio, podcasts, streaming services (Amazon Prime, STV Player and Channel 4-OD), social media (Facebook and Instagram), out of home, digital display and pay per click.
A social media toolkit has been developed and is now available on the Public Health Scotland Marketing Resource Centre. We would appreciate your support planning the assets into your planned social media activity, using the hashtag #OneLessThing.
These resources are embargoed until Noon on Monday 26 January when the campaign launches. Please do not share these assets in advance of this date and time.
NHS inform
A brand-new landing page has also been developed on NHS inform which is dedicated to giving an overview of the childhood vaccination programme including eligibility and an explanation of recent changes. You can visit the page at: www.nhsinform.scot/vaccinesforchildren
Pages with additional information about each vaccine are also available.
Changes to the immunisation schedule
The immunisation schedule has recently changed meaning that some children will be offered vaccines at different times in their lives. When they’ll be offered vaccines will depend on when they were born. To help explain these changes, Public Health Scotland has developed and updated a range of resources to support informed consent:
1. Protect your child from serious diseases leaflet
- This leaflet is also available in a range of other formats and languages.
2. Childhood immunisation postcard
- This postcard gives an outline of the changes to the childhood immunisation programme in Scotland which take place from January 2026. This postcard will be enclosed with 18-month appointment letters.
3. Online toolkit including information sheet for professionals and eligibility infographic
- This information sheet gives further detail about the schedule changes and links to useful resources.
- This infographic clearly demonstrates what vaccination journey a child should follow based on their date of birth. This can be printed locally to support conversations, or to be displayed in public areas for raising awareness.
- A suite of assets is available to promote and encourage uptake of childhood vaccinations.
For more information visit www.nhsinform.scot/onelessthing
Your support is much appreciated.