Seeing is Believing: Increasing COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake in Minority Groups
As COVID-19 vaccination programs are rolled out across the world, there have been increasing concerns regarding the lower uptake of vaccinations amongst minority groups. This concern was initially raised late last year, with several studies showing higher vaccine hesitancy amongst minority populations.
For example, a rapid national assessment in the United States1 found that Black and Hispanic individuals showed high rates of vaccine hesitation, at 34% and 29%, respectively. This was mirrored by a study published in The British Medical Journal in December 2020,2 which showed that vaccine hesitancy was higher amongst minority populations—specifically, Black, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani communities—than those from a white ethnic background.
Unfortunately, this hesitancy has translated into a worrying reality. Emerging data show that ethnic and racial minorities are being vaccinated at lower rates, even when controlling for unequal access to vaccinations.3 By March 11, in the U.K., 90.2% of all those over the age of 70 had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but for several groups in this age range, the rate of vaccination was much lower, as summarized in the figure below from the Office for National Statistics.4 The groups where uptake was the lowest were Black African and Black Caribbean (58.8% and 68.7% respectively), followed by people from Bangladeshi (72.7%) and Pakistani (74.0%) backgrounds.
References
- Khubchandani, J., et al., COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy in the United States: A Rapid National Assessment. Journal of Community Health, 2021. 46(2): p. 270-277.
- Razai, M.S., et al., Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy among ethnic minority groups. Bmj, 2021. 372: p. n513.
- Rubin, E.J., et al., Audio Interview: Delivering Covid-19 Vaccines to Minority Communities. New England Journal of Medicine, 2021. 384(13): p. e60.
- Statistics, O.f.N., Coronavirus and vaccination rates in people aged 70 years and over by socio-demographic characteristic, England: 8 December 2020 to 11 March 2021, O.f.N. Statistics, Editor. 2021: ons.gov.uk.
- Mahtani, M., Representing minorities: Canadian media and minority identities. Canadian Ethnic Studies Journal, 2001. 33: p. 99+.
- Froy, F.a.L.P., “Ensuring Labour Market Success for Ethnic Minority and Immigrant Youth. OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Working Papers, 2011. 2011/09,.
- Alsan, M., O. Garrick, and G. Graziani, Does Diversity Matter for Health? Experimental Evidence from Oakland. American Economic Review, 2019. 109(12): p. 4071-4111.
- Meghani, S.H., et al., Patient-provider race-concordance: does it matter in improving minority patients’ health outcomes? Ethn Health, 2009. 14(1): p. 107-30.
- Takeshita, J., et al., Association of Racial/Ethnic and Gender Concordance Between Patients and Physicians With Patient Experience Ratings. JAMA Netw Open, 2020. 3(11): p. e2024583.
- Shen, M.J., et al., The Effects of Race and Racial Concordance on Patient-Physician Communication: A Systematic Review of the Literature. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities, 2018. 5(1): p. 117-140.
- Saha, S. and M.C. Beach, Impact of Physician Race on Patient Decision-Making and Ratings of Physicians: a Randomized Experiment Using Video Vignettes. J Gen Intern Med, 2020. 35(4): p. 1084-1091.
- Schinkel, S., et al., Enhancing Health Communication Outcomes Among Ethnic Minority Patients: The Effects of the Match Between Participation Preferences and Perceptions and Doctor–Patient Concordance. Journal of Health Communication, 2016. 21(12): p. 1251-1259.
- Hamel, L.M., et al., Nonverbal synchrony as a behavioural marker of patient and physician race-related attitudes and a predictor of outcomes in oncology interactions: protocol for a secondary analysis of video-recorded cancer treatment discussions. BMJ Open, 2018. 8(12): p. e023648.
- Turley, M., et al., The Feasibility of Automating Assessment of Concordance Between Advance Care Preferences and Care Received Near the End of Life. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf, 2019. 45(2): p. 123-130.
- Blythe, J.A. and F.A. Curlin, How Should Physicians Respond to Patient Requests for Religious Concordance? AMA J Ethics, 2019. 21(6): p. E485-492.
About the Author
Akhil Bansal
Akhil Bansal is a junior doctor and researcher who sits on the board of several health non-for profits. He is a staff writer at The Decision Lab, and is particularly interested in how behavioural economics insights can be applied to improve health and healthcare. He has a special interest in low-cost healthcare innovations, and the role organisational development plays in driving growth and longevity. An aspiring ceramicist, Akhil is often found sitting at a potter’s wheel on the weekends. Akhil graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine.
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