Campaign plea as only half of British Indians willing to receive Covid jab

JUST over half of British Indians say they would get a coronavirus vaccine, according to research, prompting experts to call for targeted campaigns to address hesitancy in this community.

Some 56% of British Indians said they would take up a vaccine when asked by the 1928 Institute, a new think tank led by academics from the University of Oxford.

And 31% were unsure, while 13% said they would decline a jab, the poll of 510 respondents found.

The think tank said much of this stems from people feeling they are not informed enough about the vaccines, while a significant proportion feel other people deserve to receive a vaccine more.

The researchers are calling for an urgent public health campaign and funding, with messaging in different languages and co-produced with community leaders.

The Government should also widely share information on how it is helping poorer countries disseminate the vaccines, given that several participants said vulnerable people and those in poorer countries should take priority.

British Indians are the largest ethnic minority group in the UK. Analysis of surveillance data by Public Health England shows that death rates from Covid-19 were highest among people of black and Asian ethnic groups.

The report, Vaccines, the pandemic, and British Indians, brings together data from the

British Indian Census survey in 2020, focus groups, and its own online survey in December, covering contributions from more than 2,000 British Indians.

It notes that the rapid development of the newly approved vaccines “brings a much-needed source of hope whilst for others, this is a source of anxiety”.

The findings echo those published by the Royal Society of Public Health in December, which found that Asian communities were least likely to take a Covid-19 vaccine.

Almost a fifth (19%) of those polled by the 1928 Institute who said they were unsure or would decline a vaccine said this was because “other people need the vaccine more than me”.

Women were less likely than men to say they would accept a vaccine, with concerns that this could make them less fertile.

There is no evidence to suggest that Covid-19 vaccines will affect fertility, leading doctors said this week.

Two royal colleges spoke out to address spreading misinformation, and said claims of any effect of Covid-19 vaccination on fertility are “speculative and not supported by any data”.

Dr Nikita Ved, co-founder of the 1928 Institute and research fellow at Oxford University, told the PA news agency: “It seems that the Indian/south Asian population in general have been really falling prey to this through things like Whatsapp forwards and fake news.

“And a lot of it seems to be directed at fertility, which is, I think, very interesting because there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccine causes fertility issues.”