Celebrities urge Black Britons to take COVID vaccine

Plea comes after government data showed a lag in vaccine uptake among elderly Britons of African and Caribbean ancestry.

A group of celebrities is urging Black Britons to take a COVID-19 vaccine as concerns mount over a lag in uptake rates. Figures published on Monday by the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that more than 90 percent of people over the age of 70 nationwide had received their first dose of vaccine as of March 11. But among those who identified as Black African, that rate was 58.8 percent, marking the lowest level among all ethnic minority groups. In the Black Caribbean community, the rate stood at 68.7 percent.