In the UK, lower vaccine uptake among minorities causes concern

Experts and doctors say more must be done to reach communities on the margins, where hesitancy about the jabs on offer runs high.

London, United Kingdom – COVID-19 vaccine uptake among ethnic minority Britons is lower than among white people, according to recent data, a development that is fuelling concerns that the coronavirus could continue to disproportionally impact some communities and prompting calls for government action. As of February 11, 86 percent of white people aged between 70 and 79 had been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the study from OpenSafely, run by the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Among Black, mixed heritage and South Asian people of the same age, the figures stood at 55 percent, 68 percent and 73 percent respectively, according to the study, which was published Tuesday.