People from minority ethnic groups in the UK are twice as likely to be under-vaccinated against COVID-19 compared to people from White British backgrounds.
This is the surprising finding of a study conducted by scientists at UK Health Data Research, which found that people in these groups lack full protection against the coronavirus and may require hospital treatment. This indicates that there is a high possibility that the person will become ill or be at risk of death from the new coronavirus.
“The results are very clear,” said Professor Angela Wood of HDR and the University of Cambridge in the UK. “Using data from 67 million people in England, Scotland and Wales, we found that only around 40% of white people had not been fully vaccinated against coronavirus by the start of this year, and that some ethnic groups It turns out that 80% of people are under-vaccinated. That’s a really noticeable difference.”
Those with vaccination levels below 80% included Black Africans, Black Caribbeans and Asian Pakistanis. Other populations, including Asian Chinese and Asian Indian groups, were about 60% unvaccinated.
“Anyone who misses the recommended COVID-19 vaccination for that age group is considered undervaccinated,” Wood told the Observer.
The findings that ethnic groups are highly vulnerable to the coronavirus come as health services prepare for an expected rise in cases as winter approaches. Doctors and pharmacies are already offering shots to eligible people, including nursing home residents and people over 65.
The study on ethnicity and Covid-19 vaccines is a follow-up to research published earlier this year in which scientists worked together to determine the uptake of Covid-19 vaccines across the UK. This allowed us to determine the proportion of people in England (46%), Northern Ireland (50%), Scotland (33%) and Wales (34%) who were undervaccinated by the end of 2022. .
“We also found that people who are more likely to be under-vaccinated are men, younger people and people from more disadvantaged backgrounds,” Wood said.
Studies have shown that the consequences of not being fully vaccinated are severe. The group estimated that an estimated 7,000 severe outcomes from COVID-19, including hospitalization and death, were caused by a complete lack of protection.
Initial research carried out by HDR UK and the University of Edinburgh also showed that people from minority ethnic groups were also at higher risk of being under-vaccinated, leading to a decision to consider this issue more carefully. Ta. Researchers therefore divided the population of England, Scotland and Wales (figures for Northern Ireland were not included in the latest study) into 13 different ethnic categories. Apart from the white British or Irish group, where just over 40% of people were undervaccinated, figures for all other categories were above 60%, with some groups reaching 80%. “This is quite a discrepancy,” Wood said.
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Mr Wood sounded the alarm, but the finding that people from ethnic minorities are particularly vulnerable to protection against the coronavirus is of great concern to health authorities. “People from different ethnic groups have different age profiles, with older people tending to be underrepresented. We also know from our initial research that younger people are generally less likely to take up the vaccine. Therefore, it is possible that it is influencing the results. Nevertheless, it is worrisome.
“We were able to calculate these differences using electronic health records of the entire population available for coronavirus-related research. However, public health concerns include vaccination for other conditions, We need to consider, for example, the rollout of the measles vaccine to different ethnic groups across the UK.There are many similar studies that we need to consider urgently now.’
