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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released data on changes in uptake and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines, amongst adults who previously reported they had declined the vaccine or were unlikely or unsure about having the vaccine if offered.
Dr Simon Williams, Senior Lecturer in People and Organisation, Swansea University, said:
“It’s encouraging to see vaccine uptake continuing to increase in the UK. This shows that many people who were previously hesitant – even though that was still a small proportion of the overall adult population – are now deciding to get vaccinated. This is partly because of worries over recent high rates and the possibility of new restrictions looming unless rates continue to drop further.
“In our own research1 for example we found that many people who had not yet been vaccinated were not anti-vax necessarily or outright opposed to getting vaccinated, but were rather delaying the decision to get vaccinated, either because they felt they did not have enough information, or the information was not clear enough, or they were waiting until they “needed” to get the vaccine, because of vaccine passports for example.
“It is also encouraging to see uptake of the vaccine by those previously hesitant about it being roughly the same in Black and Black British individuals as in White individuals. Unequal take up of the vaccine by ethnicity has been a problem and may have contributed to higher covid rates in some BAME communities – and so the latest data might be reflecting the additional work that may communities and health authorities are doing to really engage those communities that have historically been most hesitant – which may be paying off. However, more still needs to be done to reduce vaccine inequalities by ethnicity and community deprivation levels.
“We may be close to saturation of the adult population – and many of those who have not yet had a vaccine may ultimately refuse the offer indefinitely. And so now, the focus needs to be on vaccinating younger age groups, including offering the vaccine in a timely fashion to 5-11 years olds, to avoid the delays we saw for 12-15 year olds – so that their families can make the choice or whether to have their child vaccinated.
“Most importantly, we need to focus on booster uptake. This ONS data reveals how to reduce vaccine hesitancy around booster uptake. One of the main reasons those previous hesitant decided to get their initial jabs was to prevent future measures coming back and to preserve the sense of normality. And so the message needs to get out there that boosters are crucial to help us avoid having to go back into some stricter measures.”
1 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.17.21257092v1
Dr Ben Kasstan, Medical anthropologist at the University of Bristol, said:
“The latest statistics show almost half of the people who were previously unsure about accepting or were opposed to COVID-19 vaccines have since changed their mind. The biggest shift towards accepting vaccines has been in the 18-29 age range, which could be linked to recommendations to vaccinate before studying at university or requirements for international travel. The desire to ‘return to normal’ has clearly influenced the majority of people changing their mind and accepting vaccination. Requiring vaccines for entry into public spaces and mass events might then be a powerful influence on the decision to accept COVID-19 vaccines. There is, however, a small but concerning number of people aged 70 and above who have not changed their mind and are at higher risk of serious morbidity and mortality – especially as winter approaches. The large number of people who remain concerned about side-effects – or who perhaps want further evidence on vaccine safety – should ask themselves how long they are willing to wait, how much evidence they feel they need, and whether they are putting themselves and others, including loved ones, at risk by waiting.”
All our previous output on this subject can be seen at this weblink:
www.sciencemediacentre.org/tag/covid-19
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