There are no plans to bar children from island schools if they have not had the MMR vaccine.

It comes after UK health secretary Matt Hancock said that the measure could not be ruled out if vaccination rates against measles, mumps and rubella did not improve. In France, children are not permitted into state schools if they have not had all their vaccinations.

But Education Minister Graham Cregeen said his department was not planning to implement any such measure here.

’The department has no policy to deny access to pupils who have not had the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and is not considering implementing one,’ he said.

He was responding to a question from Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew) who said the Isle of Man’s immunisation rate was below the Unicef-recommended 95% coverage.

The question has arisen following drops in the number of children being given the MMR vaccination, amid what health chiefs have branded as fake news claims about any alleged risks with the vaccine.

Between 2010 and 2017, 527,000 children in the UK did not have the measles vaccine. Last year saw 966 measles cases in England, compared with 259 the previous year.

Health Minister David Ashford said the Isle of Man’s rate had remained steady at 94% over the last five years. The initial vaccination took place at 12 months, with the second vaccination due at three years four months.

He urged parents of children to ensure their children were vaccinated.

’Unfortunately in this day and age of social media I don’t think we are ever going to be able to rid ourselves of some very selective video clips that appear around the internet, and some scare stories,’ he said.

’One of the things I would say is that parents and adults in the Isle of Man, I think, are very sensible and I think their own personal judgements tend to be in the right sort of area.’