As the UK’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout enters its next phase, new YouGov research explores the attitudes of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Britons towards the vaccine
While the UK’s rapid rollout of the coronavirus vaccine has received much praise, one key difficulty that has emerged is in convincing Britons from ethnic minorities to get their jab. Concerns are such that a TV advert recently aired featuring prominent Britons from BAME backgrounds urging people to take the vaccine.
Now new data from YouGov shows that one in ten BAME Britons (10%) say they will not get vaccinated, a figure which rises to 18% amongst Pakistanis and 19% among Black people. By contrast, a separate survey showed that only 6% of White Britons are set to refuse the vaccine.
This is also a noticeable difference between the proportion of BAME Britons who remain unsure about getting inoculated (16%), and the 8% of all Britons who feel the same way.
Overall, 59% BAME Britons said they will get the vaccine and 14% say they have already been vaccinated (although this latter figure is lower than the 26% it is among all Britons).
Why won’t BAME Britons take a coronavirus vaccine?
When we asked those who said they wouldn’t take a vaccine for their reasons, nearly half (45%, representing 5% of all BAME Britons) said it is because they don’t know enough about the vaccine. Almost two in five think it is unsafe (37%, or 4% of all BAME Britons) whilst a quarter say they don’t trust the science behind it or simply don’t want to get the vaccine (26% in both cases, representing 3% of Britons from minority backgrounds).
Others cite that stories they have heard have put them off (10%, or 1% of all BAME Britons) or worry about receiving the vaccine (8%, representing about 1% of all ethnic minority Britons).
When asked about the three main vaccines, 45% of BAME Britons say they have heard more good things, on balance, about the Pfizer-Biotech vaccine. The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine receives more mixed awareness levels with a third either saying they have heard more good things (33%) or a mix of positive and negative (34%). It appears the Moderna vaccine is least known amongst BAME Britons with many saying they haven’t heard anything (18%) or are unsure about what they have heard (33%).
