City area ranks among those with lowest virus vaccinations
A PART of Derby is among the areas of England which have seen the fewest Covid-19 vaccinations, new figures reveal.
Normanton and Pear Tree, which is one of the most deprived areas in the city, is also an area in which officials are aware of a damaging level of disinformation and mistrust on the vaccine.
Analysis of new government data by the Local Democracy Reporting Service has revealed that Normanton and Pear Tree ranks in the bottom three % of England for vaccinations.
Out of the 6,791 hyper-local areas which make up England, grouped by an average population of 7,500, Normanton and Pear Tree is ranked 6,594 with 1,111 vaccinations administered as of February 21.
Meanwhile, three miles up the road, an area defined as North Mickleover ranks in the top six % of England, at 390 out of 6,791 with 3,327 vaccinations administered. It is one of the least deprived areas of Derby.
Derbyshire as a whole, including Derby, has now administered more than 300,000 Covid-19 vaccines.
The number of vaccinations administered by hyper-local area can differ for many reasons, including the number of elderly people in that area (with vaccinations largely being administered by age group) as well as those with extreme and specific health conditions.
Other reasons include the student population of a certain area, with this group of the population not eligible to get vaccinations unless they have specific health conditions.
However, a key issue which health and council officials in Derby are fully aware of is the level of hesitancy in the city’s black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. Statistics this week show that out of the total jabs administered in Derby and Derbyshire so far, just 5.89 % were to BAME residents, despite the
BAME population representing 14.45 % of the county and city as of the 2011 census.
Throughout the pandemic the areas of Derby which have seen more Covid-19 cases and higher infection levels are also the same areas which have the highest levels of deprivation.
This also appears to cross over to the number of vaccinations which have been carried out in each of Derby’s hyper-local areas, with more affluent areas seeing more jabs, while areas which are more deprived and also home to more of the city’s BAME communities, seeing the least.
The vaccination statistics to date include jabs administered to:
■ Residents in care homes and their carers;
■ Patients ages 80 or over and frontline health and social care workers;
■ Patients aged 75 and over;
■ Patients aged 70 and over, residents aged 16-69 who are clinically extremely vulnerable;
Patients aged 65-69; patients aged 16-64 who have a specific underlying health conditions which leave them more at risk from Covid-19.
Within Derby, the other hyperlocal areas which have seen the fewest Covid-19 vaccinations administered are also those which are more deprived and have seen higher levels of Covid-19 and most of which also have larger proportions of BAME residents.
These are, in order of fewest vaccinations: New Zealand, New Normanton, Rose Hill and Castleward, Little Chester, Breadsall Hilltop and Normanton South.
Data provided by Government for hyper-local areas also groups vaccinations by the age groups under 70, 70-74, 75-79 and 80 and above.
Using this data we can see that, for the most part, the higher the number of vaccinations which have been administered by area, the more even the split in vaccinations is between those under the age of 70 and those aged 70 and above.
For example, the New Zealand area, which has seen the second fewest vaccinations in Derby, has the highest proportion of vaccinations administered to those aged under 70, with 71 % of all jabs going to those below the age of 70.
Mickleover North, which has seen the most vaccinations in Derby, has seen around half of all its jabs go to each age grouping – below and above 70.
This may show that in our most deprived areas it is the more elderly population which are more hesitant and less likely to take up Covid vaccines.
Talks with health officials and community figures in the city appears to support this, with mistrust higher among the first BAME generations to move to the city in the 50s and 60s.