No jab for third of black people

MORE than a third of older black people have not had a coronavirus jab, figures showed yesterday.

Analysis by the Office for National Statistics found around four in 10 of black African ethnicity over 70 and almost three in 10 identifying as black Caribbean in the same age group have either not been offered or have declined vaccination.

More than one in four older people from Pakistani or Bangladeshi backgrounds have not been vaccinated, compared with fewer than one in 10 identifying as white British.

The ONS report said older black Africans were five times less likely to accept inoculation than white Britons, and black Caribbeans nearly four times less likely.

Older white British people were around three times more likely to have been vaccinated than their Pakistani or Bangladeshi counterparts.

The figures, based on GP and population records, also give a breakdown by religion for older people vaccinated in England between December 8 and March 11.

They showed 93 per cent of Christians and 91 per cent with no religion had been vaccinated, compared with 80 per cent of Muslims.

The report also found disabled people had lower rates of vaccination (87 per cent) compared with those who were not disabled (91 per cent).

The ONS said adjusting the figures to take account of where people live and factors such as their incomes and underlying health conditions did not explain the lower vaccination rates among ethnic minority groups.

Professor Kevin Fenton, London director of Public Health England, said: ‘We know our black communities have been among the hardest hit during this pandemic but we also know there are some among us who are less likely to come forward for the life-saving vaccine.

‘Getting back to normal will mean every one of us joining the over 30million who have taken up the vaccine.’