White over-80s are almost twice as likely to have had the coronavirus vaccine than elderly black Britons, a report has found.
The research comes amid amid claims from ministers that Covid-19 vaccine refusal rates are highest among black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) Britons.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons, a total of 5,012, over-80 in England had their first dose by January 27, compared to 82 per cent, 650,664, of white elderly Britons.
The data, collated by OpenSAFELY on behalf of NHS England, also revealed that 62 per cent of South Asian over-80s, 16,814, had received the Covid jab, followed by 59 per cent, 1,645, of elderly people of mixed ethnicity.
A 66-year-old man named Delroy receives a Covid-19, vaccine at the Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton
Chief executive of the Runnymede Trust, the UK’s leading independent race equality think tank, Halima Begum explained how the findings ‘isn’t about vaccine refusal’ but shows a need to support BAME people to put their ‘trust back in our public services’.
Speaking about hesitancy among BAME people to access NHS services, Dr Begum told The Guardian: ‘That fear is often based on past experience, whether incidents of simple misunderstanding, cultural confusion or, in the case of some patients, an outright fear of perceived hostility and racism.’
It comes after Nadhim Zahawi, who was born in Iraq and moved to the UK aged nine, described how although figures suggest uptake is high, vaccine hesitancy ‘is skewed heavily towards BAME communities’.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons over-80 have been vaccinated in England, up until January 27, compared to 82 per cent of white elderly Britons
Scientists believe uptake of 85 per cent would be enough to achieve herd immunity, when so many people are immune to a disease that it peters out.
Yesterday, Mr Zahawi told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘At the moment this is the highest uptake of any vaccination programme including all of the flu vaccination programmes the NHS have run.
‘So currently the UK is a standout country in terms of people wanting to keep themselves safe by being vaccinated and keep their families and communities safe.’
SAGE — number 10’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies — has warned low uptake among minority groups could pose a ‘significant risk’ to Britain’s vaccine drive if enough people turn the jab down.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said uptake was lower in BAME groups
The advisory panel has blamed years of ‘structural and institutional racism and discrimination’ for vaccine scepticism among BAME communities, mainly black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi people.
Boris Johnson visited a vaccination clinic at the Muslim Al-Hikmah centre in Batley, West Yorkshire, this week, in an effort to boost uptake among BAME groups.
Mr Zahawi added: ‘I am spending a lot of time with the NHS to make sure we record, of course, ethnicity but also have a strategy of how we reach those hard to reach groups working with local government.’
The minister could not say whether the health service was recording when someone asked for a jab says they will not get it.
It came after an ONS survey published last month said uptake was at 85 per cent overall, a rise of seven per cent since their previous survey between December 10 to 13.
The Prime Minister urged everyone to make sure they got their jabs during a visit to a vaccination site in Yorkshire this week.
‘The vaccine programme has got to continue to be successful,’ he said.
The paper presented by SAGE included the results of a survey which showed a shocking 71.8 per cent of Black people said they were unlikely to get a Covid-19 vaccine if offered one
‘We have got to make sure we don’t get thrown off course by new variants, we have got to make sure that we continue to keep the disease under control and the level of infections come down.’
The Government is aiming to vaccinate all 15million in the top priority groups – over-70s, NHS staff, vulnerable and care home residents – by mid-February, meaning they will need to get jabs into the arms of 350,000 people a day.
Meanwhile, it emerged last month that Number 10 has hired a PR firm to boost uptake of the jab among BAME groups.
London-based Multicultural Marketing Consultancy (MMC) has been tasked with clamping down on vaccine misinformation and improving jab hesitancy among minorities.
MMC prides itself on its ‘ability to connect with communities’ at a ‘grassroots level’ through media and other channels, according to the company’s website.
The firm has previously worked on No10 campaigns to increase awareness about prostate cancer in black men and female genital mutilation.
