MMR vaccines for adults? Any my GP surgery are being weird.

[Icelandholiday]

When I last saw my GP earlier this year, I had to pick up some paperwork and there was a post-it note on it, saying I should book an MMR vaccine. I'm 40 years old and had all the usual vaccinations as a child, so I assumed it was a mistake and thought nothing of it.

This morning, a bloke working at my GP surgery phoned me and absolutely DEMANDED that I should come in TODAY, this afternoon for an MMR vaccine. I explained I thought it must be a mistake, but he insisted. I said I'd had all the usual vaccinations as a child. He said there were no records of me having a second MMR as a teenager (I'm sure they were separate vaccines then anyway rather than MMR?), and demanded that I should get hold of paperwork (from about 1994! Why would I have paperwork from then?) and that I should send it in to them as proof. He said that if I didn't have the records, I should get them from my previous GP. I have been with the same GP surgery my entire life, my mum was already registered there when I was born, so they should have all my records. And I can't prove anything, but I'm very sure I had all the usual vaccinations as a child and in my early teens. My parents are not anti-vaxxers. Several of my childhood memories include going to various clinics for vaccinations, and a couple of them at school.

I phoned back this afternoon and spoke to one of the usual receptionists and she said that apparently some patients aged 40-50 are being recommended to have an MMR vaccine, mainly patients with medical conditions or long-term medications, which does apply to be me to be fair.

What is going on? Why did this bloke phone me this morning in such an insistent manner?

Gosh! Are they maybe trying to hit some kind of quota? Or could this be a new employee trying to make a mark? Sounds unpleasant. I would certainly not respond well to being approached in this fashion! Hope you get to the bottom of it.

I'd take it. I'm 42 and definitely didn't have the mmr. I had rubella as a child and still have antibodies (tested in pregnancy, the last time 2 years ago). Never been immunised against mumps or measles and my GP practice (Scotland) won't do it. I was going to book it privately when everything shut down for coronavirus.

I don’t think the mmr was one of the standard vaccinations then so you may well not have had it. You will have had the single ones though as a child and the rubella one if you had all the ones that were on the schedule at that time. I think they’re trying to do a catch up to get everyone up to date with mmr.

Pushiness odd but it's routine. There has been lots of measles around the last few years and we are starting to vaccinate adults. If you were born before the 90s you have probably only had one jab and need a booster. If you were born before the mid 80s you probably haven't had one at all.

I'm 51 and had my two vaccs a few years ago as part of my hob in healthcare.

I didn’t have mmr either though I was vaccinated against measles. Had mumps and rubella as a child and was still immune to rubella when I was last pregnant.

I don't think the MMR existed when we were children (I am 38). I remember having the rubella vaccine at the GP surgery when I was maybe about 12 and having a measles vaccine in secondary school. I don't know why they are so desperate for you to have it right now, especially when you read of posters here who can't get a GP appointment at all because of COVID. I had the MMR in my 20s, because I lived very close to a university and there was an outbreak of either mumps or measles there at the time, so I was offered it there and then when I went to the GP to get a repeat prescription.

@GreenGordon

Gosh! Are they maybe trying to hit some kind of quota? Or could this be a new employee trying to make a mark? Sounds unpleasant. I would certainly not respond well to being approached in this fashion! Hope you get to the bottom of it.

He told me they were under new management, and the new manager had insisted that they go through everyone's records to make sure their vaccinations were up to date. I find it weird because I haven't had any vaccinations since I was about 13 or something. It's odd telling me all this now.

I’m 38 now, and back when I was in uni (2003 -I was 21) I ended up getting Mumps. There were signs up everywhere to get the booster, but I checked with my mum and she said I had had all the correct vaccinations as a child.
Turns out there was a few years when the 2nd booster was given, I was in that group.

The MMR vaccine was introduced in 1988, so if you’re 40, you won’t have had it as one of your routine childhood vaccines.

I’m a similar age to you, I had all the recommenced vaccines as a child. I had vaccines against measles and rubella (single vaccines), but I’ve never had the mumps vaccine as that wasn’t a routine vaccine when I was a pre-schooler.

Am I hallucination but I’m sure I read recently that MMR can protect against covid?

I suppose the thinking is it won’t do any harm to top up those with no record of vaccination.

I’m fairly sure MMR was only licenced in the 70’s and will have taken a while to reach general
Use. I don’t think my siblings or I had it. Whooping cough was the big scandal then...

I'm a similar age, late 30s and I ended up having an MMR vaccine in my early 30s when I went for some travel jabs. Nurse had spotted on my records that I hadn't had it, and so I had an extra needle that day😁...

It’s to do with the triple vaccine not being introduced until later on in your childhood.

This is the guidance for vaccinations

Okay, I've just phoned my mum

She said I had a measles vaccine when I was a baby, but I didn't have a rubella or mumps vaccine at all as it wasn't around then. In fact I actually got rubella (the illness, not the vaccine) when I was at primary school.

But that still doesn't explain why this bloke was so insistent that I should come in today. He was practically ordering me to come in to the surgery to get it done.

But

You've probably had a single measles vaccine as a child and a rubella as a teen. The MMR didn't exist. You may well have had Mumps - I'm in my 40s and remember having mumps as a child.

I’m around your age and measles required a booster in secondary school (maybe at 15?) and I didn’t have it then. I did have rubella at school (maybe at 13?) and during pregnancy was found to no longer have antibodies. When I went for the MMR after this, I was told that the antibody expectancy is typically 20 years so considering your age I would have the vaccination - as a PP has said, there is a growing amount of research suggesting the MMR vaccine helps to fight covid-19.

I was invited to have an MMR a couple of months ago by text. I'm in my forties so missed out as a child. I wasn't vaccinated against measles as a child, but I caught the disease and mumps too, and I had the rubella vaccine as a teenager at school, so I'm happy that I'm immune. The nurse brought it up when I went for my flu vax, I explained my decision and she was absolutely fine about it, just recorded it on my records and nothing further said.

My mum has just phoned back. It turns out I had another measles vaccine, and a rubella one, when I was at secondary school, which maybe wasn't sent to my GP surgery. She's going to send me a scan of it.

Still doesn't explain why this bloke was ordering me about this morning!

Also my mum has now gone all nostalgic and we were having a nice chat about other things that were in the drawer, including records of my weight from when I was a baby, and some letters to the tooth fairy

If you get covid you are more susceptible to other infections too. Have the vaccine. Wish my surgery was so proactive.

I'm 35, had all childhood vaccines but apparently my generation didn't get an mmr booster. I had mumps at uni (along with many others) and had to have the booster before I started ivf. No excuse for pushiness from the surgery though. Maybe he had spoken to a lot of bewildered and disinterested people and had been getting a hard time all day.

Maybe he had spoken to a lot of bewildered and disinterested people and had been getting a hard time all day.

I think this could've been avoided if they'd sent a text message or email with more details as to what was going on.

I'm 41 and caught mumps a couple of years ago. Not fun. It was only then talking to a GP that I realised I hadn't had the MMR as it wasn't available in my childhood. I had no idea!

Have you had kids OP? I had to have an MMR after having DC1 because I hadn't had the rubella booster in high school. My mum was going through an anti Vax stage then

No I haven't at the moment, which is probably why I didn't know. I'm not anti-vax, I just didn't know and I think it would've been helpful if they'd written to me to explain what was going on. No wonder people are confused if they just say "You must come in for an MMR vaccine immediately!" with no reason given.