Monitoring sociodemographic inequality in COVID-19 vaccination uptake in England: a national linked data study

Abstract

BackgroundThe UK began an ambitious COVID-19 vaccination programme on 8 December 2020. This study describes variation in vaccination uptake by sociodemographic characteristics between December 2020 and August 2021.MethodsUsing population-level administrative records linked to the 2011 Census, we estimated monthly first dose vaccination rates by age group and sociodemographic characteristics among adults aged 18 years or over in England. We also present a tool to display the results interactively.ResultsOur sample included 35 223 466 adults. A lower percentage of males than females were vaccinated in the young and middle age groups (18–59 years) but not in the older age groups. Vaccination rates were highest among individuals of White British and Indian ethnic backgrounds and lowest among Black Africans (aged ≥80 years) and Black Caribbeans (18–79 years). Differences by ethnic group emerged as soon as vaccination roll-out commenced and widened over time. Vaccination rates were also lower among individuals who identified as Muslim, lived in more deprived areas, reported having a disability, did not speak English as their main language, lived in rented housing, belonged to a lower socioeconomic group, and had fewer qualifications.ConclusionWe found inequalities in COVID-19 vaccination uptake rates by sex, ethnicity, religion, area deprivation, disability status, English language proficiency, socioeconomic position and educational attainment, but some of these differences varied by age group. Research is urgently needed to understand why these inequalities exist and how they can be addressed.

Long-term spatial patterns in COVID-19 booster vaccine uptake

“…With these falls in uptake, there is concern about future immunity. These analyses confirm an observed inequality of increased vaccine refusal in younger groups living in more deprived communities [26, 27, 19]. Our analyses illustrate how these inequalities in uptake manifest as larger clusters of low uptake consistent with clustering of communities with a higher degree of deprivation, that may become more polarised as nationwide uptake falls.…”

“…With these falls in uptake, there is concern about future immunity. These analyses confirm an observed inequality of increased vaccine refusal in younger groups living in more deprived communities [29, 30, 22]. Data from the second round of booster doses then suggest that this deprivation trend may become exacerbated in future rounds if uptake were to decline further, and our projections illustrate how this may manifest spatially, revealing large clusters of low uptake consistent with clustering of communities with a higher degree of deprivation.…”

Attitudes towards coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine and sources of information across diverse ethnic groups in the UK: a qualitative study from June to October 2020

“…We found that views towards COVID-19 vaccination were generally similar across ethnic groups between June and October 2020, while larger UK quantitative studies conducted within the first year after vaccine rollout demonstrated lower uptake in certain ethnic minority groups, and there were sometimes further inequalities by age, gender, religion, area deprivation, disability status, English language proficiency, socioeconomic position and educational attainment 21–24. Surveillance data demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccination rates in the UK and Israel were lowest among certain ethnic minority groups 25 26.…”

“…Attitudes, intentions and uptake We found that views towards COVID-19 vaccination were generally similar across ethnic groups between June and October 2020, while larger UK quantitative studies conducted within the first year after vaccine rollout demonstrated lower uptake in certain ethnic minority groups, and there were sometimes further inequalities by age, gender, religion, area deprivation, disability status, English language proficiency, socioeconomic position and educational attainment. [21][22][23][24] Surveillance data demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccination rates in the UK and Israel were lowest among certain ethnic minority groups. 25 26 For UK healthcare workers between December 2020 and February 2021, studies found that some ethnic minority groups were more likely to be COVID-19 vaccine hesitant in comparison with white British groups, 12 and that COVID-19 vaccine uptake was lower among some ethnic minority groups compared with white people.…”

An intersectional analysis of sociodemographic disparities in Covid-19 vaccination: A nationwide register-based study in Sweden

“…Less is known about the uptake of Covid-19 vaccination among middle-aged and younger individuals. A previous study has demonstrated a lower uptake and even larger sociodemographic differences in vaccination uptake in the younger and middle-aged population than in the older population [12] . In a recent preprint addressing a working population of 40-64 years olds in England, vaccination uptake clearly differed by occupation with lower vaccination coverage in individuals working in elementary occupations, while managers and individuals in professional and administrative occupations had a higher uptake [13] .…”