‘Lack of trust’ led to low jab take-up by minorities

NEW research says a lack of trust in public sector officials has played a key role in the low uptake of Covid-19 vaccinations amongst groups termed “high risk”.

Research from the universities of Birmingham and Leeds found vaccine hesitancy was greatest among people who believe that public officials “don’t care” about them, and that they have no say in what the Government does.

It is a result of a general lack of faith in institutions, rather than disagreement with the Government’s Covid policies.

Researchers looked at data showing that people with low incomes and from ethnic minority backgrounds are least likely to be vaccinated.

They recommended that the Government should review public health messaging, with a focus on tailoring health promotion advice to these groups and with greater effort in improving trust in the public sector and the Government.

The study showed that during the period immediately before Britain’s Covid vaccine rollout in December 2020, over 11% of UK adults said they were unwilling to take a Covid vaccine. But this hesitancy was not spread evenly across the population.

It was lowest among white people, with 9% saying they didn’t want a Covid vaccine. In comparison, 50% of black people said they didn’t want to receive the vaccine, and hesitancy was also high in other non-white groups – 28% of South Asian and 17% of other Asian respondents said they were unwilling to be vaccinated.

Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay, Professor of Economics from the University of Birmingham and co-author of the study, said: “Building trust in the public sector and government are essential to improving uptake amongst groups who are most at risk from Covid. Public sector officials, along with government, need to look at new and innovative ways to engage with citizens as well as be transparent in their communication to refute fake news related to vaccines.

“Similarly, it is imperative that politicians and officials maintain high ethical standards during times of emergency like the pandemic when there is reduced oversight.

“It hasn’t helped in the UK where we see news of parties being held at Downing Street in the middle of lockdowns along with reports of the Government breaking the law in the awarding of PPE contracts, which has only lowered public trust in officials. During a period when new Covid-19 variants are on the horizon, the focus should be on clear public health messages around vaccination, rather than what is making headlines in this regard.”