People from ethnic minority groups in the UK are twice as likely to be under-vaccinated against Covid-19 compared to individuals who have a white British background.
This is the striking finding of a study conducted by scientists at Health Data Research UKindicating that people from these groups are more likely to require hospital treatment or be at risk of death from Covid because they do not have full protection against the disease.
“The results are very clear,” said Prof Angela Wood, from the HDR UK and Cambridge University. “Using data for 67 million people from England, Scotland and Wales, we found that only around 40% of those from white backgrounds had not had their full Covid vaccination by the start of this year, while 80% of individuals of some ethnic groups under-vaccinated. It really is a striking difference.”
Those with under-vaccination levels of 80% included people of Black African, Black Caribbean and Asian Pakistani backgrounds. Others, including those in Asian Chinese and Asian Indian groups, were about 60% under-vaccinated.
“A person is considered under-vaccinated if they have missed any of the Covid boosters recommended for their age group,” Wood told the Observer.
The discovery of the high vulnerability of ethnic groups to Covid comes as health services prepare for an expected increase in cases as winter approaches. Doctors and pharmacies already offer samples to eligible individuals such as residents in care homes and people over 65.
The research into ethnic groups and Covid vaccines follows on from a study published earlier this year in which scientists worked together to reveal the use of Covid vaccines across Britain. This enabled them to identify the proportion of people who were under-vaccinated by the end of 2022 in England (46%), Northern Ireland (50%), Scotland (33%) and Wales (34%).
“We also found that people more likely to be under-vaccinated were male, younger and from more deprived backgrounds,” Wood said.
The consequences of the failure to obtain full vaccination were profound, the study showed. An estimated 7,000 serious Covid outcomes, including hospitalization and death, would be caused by the lack of full protection, the group calculated.
The original study – carried out by the HDR UK and Edinburgh University – also indicated that those in minority ethnic groups were also at greater risk of being under-vaccinated and it was decided to look more closely at the issue. The researchers therefore divided the population of England, Scotland and Wales – Northern Ireland figures were not included in the latest study – into 13 different ethnic categories. Apart from the group labeled white British or Irish, of which just over 40% of people were under-grafted, all other categories had figures above 60%, while several reached 80%. “It’s a fundamental contradiction,” Wood said.
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The discovery that people in ethnic minority groups are particularly lacking in protection against Covid is a major concern for health officials, although Wood has a note of caution. “People in the different ethnic groups have different age profiles … and tend to have fewer old people. We also know from our first study that younger people are generally less likely to take the vaccine. This may therefore affect our results. Nevertheless, it is worrying.
“We were able to calculate these differences using electronic health records of the entire population available for Covid-related research. But there is a public health need to look at vaccinations for other conditions, for example the use of measles vaccines for different ethnic groups across the UK. There are a host of similar studies that we urgently need to look at now.”
