The number of Amsterdam children vaccinated against diseases such as measles has fallen for the third year in a row, according to new figures from the regional health board.

Just 83% of the under-twos in the capital were fully vaccinated last year, compared with above 90% in the years up to 2020. The trend is similar among younger children and teenagers, the health board said.

The World Health Organization has set a 90% target for childhood vaccinations to reduce the risk of a measles or polio outbreak. It has named the mistrust of vaccinations – driven by the coronavirus pandemic – one of the 10 biggest risks to global health.

City health chief Alexander Scholtes told the Parool newspaper he was “totally shocked” by the figures. “It is up to people themselves to decide whether or not to have their children vaccinated, but they must understand the decision could also have an impact on others,” he told the paper.

The problem is particularly acute in the Nieuw-West and Zuidoost districts, where a large proportion of the population is low-income. But even in the prosperous Centrum and Zuid districts, the vaccination rate has fallen to 88%, around the Dutch average.

The public health institute RIVM said in June it is “concerned” about the decline in childhood vaccination after its figures showed the national take-up rate had dropped below 90%.

Just 84% of children born in 2020 were registered as fully vaccinated by the age of two, according to the RIVM’s own figures.

The agency said the true figure was probably higher because parents were recently given the right to opt out of registering their children’s vaccinations.