Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking (a) to tackle vaccine hesitancy in minority communities and (b) with local healthcare partners to help increase uptake of vaccines in minority communities.

To assess confidence of the public in vaccinations programmes, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) undertakes research to understand how knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards immunisation, vaccine safety and disease severity influence vaccine uptake decision-making. This includes working with partners in the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit for Vaccines exploring issues within specific minority communities.

Vaccine hesitancy is only part of the issue; ensuring good access to health care, particularly for inclusion health groups who face multiple barriers to care, is also critical. This includes efforts to improve access to mainstream services and specialist outreach services.

Some members of under-served communities can find accessing healthcare and vaccination services more challenging. UKHSA, in partnership with NHS England and the Department, undertakes a range of actions to improve vaccination coverage for all ages in England. This includes initiatives to improve access to the immunisation programme, data to better identify under-served individuals and populations, training for healthcare professionals and communication with the public. To support this, a range of leaflets and other promotional materials are available, in several languages, in print form and for download from our Health Publications website.