Researchers studying ideas about a vaccine against severe respiratory coronavirus syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among the UK population have found that, overall, the some people are willing to accept vaccinations.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is the agent responsible for the 2019 coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) which remains a major threat to global public health and the global economy.
The study also found that some subgroups of the population did not appear to be vaccinated (vaccine hesitant), which has a significant impact on public health policy, the team says.
The analysis of nationally representative survey data found that 82% of participants were more likely to accept vaccination. However, women, younger people, and those with lower levels of education were more likely to be vaccinated.
Some ethnic groups, especially black people, Pakistanis and Bangladeshi, were more likely to be lazy from vaccination.
The team – from the University of Glasgow, the University of Essex, Public Health Scotland, and Ipsos MORI UK Ltd – say concerns about unforeseen future effects are the main reason for vaccine delays.
With the UK now delivering a vaccination program, these decisions have important implications for the steps needed to increase uptake, the researchers said.
“Herd protection can be achieved through vaccination in the UK, but a focus on specific minority ethnic and socio-economic groups is needed to ensure a fair vaccination program,” wrote Michaela Benzeval (University of Essex) and colleagues.
A pre-printed version of the paper is available on the medRxiv * server while the article is under peer review.
Safe and effective vaccination is essential for the control of COVID-19
Extensive administration of an effective and safe vaccine against SARS-COV-2 is essential for the control of COVID-19 pandemic disease, but delay in immunization may weaken such efforts.
It would be preferable if the proportion of the population who received the vaccine was large enough for those who remain unvaccinated to be protected (known as herd protection).
Understanding whether some of the subgroups are more likely to accept or reject vaccines is critical to designing successful vaccination strategies to achieve herd immunity.
Reasons for waiting for a vaccine, willingness to take vaccines and factors that persuade people to take vaccine (weighted proportions with 95% CI bars)
What did the researchers do?
National representative data available for 12,035 participants in wave 6 of the COVID-19 “Understanding Society” web survey was collected from 24th November to 1st December 2020.
Participants were asked how likely or not they would be to receive a vaccine and the reasons for it.
“The four UK countries are now rolling out a vaccination program starting with those most at risk of death from COVID-19,” the team wrote. “The findings reported here provide evidence of the groups that need to be targeted and arguments that may be strong for them. ”
Hesitancy differed significantly between subgroups
Overall, vaccine expectations were high, with 82% of respondents reporting that they were likely (28.5%) or very likely (53.5%) to be vaccinated. However, 18% said they were unlikely or very similar to getting the vaccine.
The intention to get vaccinated varied widely between population subgroups.
A higher proportion of women reported vaccine laziness than men, at 21.0% compared to 14.7%, and a higher proportion of younger age groups reported vaccine laziness, compared to older age groups.
Among those aged 16–24 years and those aged 25–24 years, vaccine delays were 26.5% and 28.3%, respectively. This compared with 14.3% among those aged 55 to 64 years, 8.1% among those aged 65 to 74 years and only 4.5% in those aged 75 or over.
“Old age and masculinity are the strongest drivers of COVID-19 death risk, making them less likely to be lazy from vaccination, suggesting that the vaccination program could bring significant health benefits to the UK , ”Said Benzeval and team.
Vaccination suspicions varied significantly by race, with Black (71.8%) and Pakistani / Bangladeshi (42.3%) groups being the most hesitant, followed by mixed ethnicity groups (32.4%) and individuals outside the UK / Ireland (26.4%).
People with lower levels of education were also more likely to be lazy from vaccination. Among people with a degree qualification, 13.2% said they were lazy about vaccinations, compared with 24.6% of those with GCSEs and 18% of people without qualifications.
Overall, the main reported reason for delay was concerns about the unknown side effects of future vaccinations, with 42.7% saying this was the reason.
The main reasons for willingness to avoid vaccination were infection with the virus or being very ill (54.6%) and allowing social and family life to return to normal (12.5%).
The study also found that effective and safe vaccination is known to be the main motivators for vaccine uptake.
What is the impact of the study?
“Our review has an important practical impact on public health policy,” the team wrote.
The risk of vaccine discrimination varies significantly across ethnic minorities in the UK, with Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups in particular more likely to be vaccine-deprived, the researchers say.
“People with lower levels of education were also more likely to be vaccinated,” they add.
Benzeval and colleagues say that vaccine laziness is a complex problem and that a number of practical steps must be taken to increase uptake.
“The subgroups we have identified as immunosuppressive should be included in the planning and development of any communications programs,” they conclude.
* Important message
medRxiv publish preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be seen as final, guiding health-related clinical practice / behavior, or be treated as information established.