Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research his Department has undertaken or commissioned on engaging with people who are eligible for but have not yet received a covid-19 vaccine; and what level of covid-19 vaccination he plans to reach.

We continuously undertake and review research into the drivers for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. This includes information gathered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), health studies, and insights generated by the vaccine programme itself.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is monitored by ONS. They publish data recording the reasons people give for vaccine refusal. For example, we know that concerns about side effects are the most commonly cited reason for not taking the vaccine when/if offered. More information on ONS surveys concerning COVID-19 vaccine attitudes can be found at the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandwellbeing/datasets/coronavirusandvaccinehesitancygreatbritain.

This is supported by Healthwatch, who undertook research in Spring 2021 and looked at uptake in ethnic minority groups who are known to be vaccine hesitant. They found that people commonly cited issues such as practical barriers, misinformation, and deeper cultural mistrust.

The Government is taking a strategic approach to engagement at national, regional and local levels. The NHS is working in partnership with the voluntary and community sector, local authorities, staff and patients to ensure that views are built into the programme and used to inform and improve communications and delivery. For example, there is a toolkit to support communication and engagement with local communities; the toolkit contains key messages and links to national resources to inform and encourage uptake. The assessment of local take up rates is led by the NHS, with local partners. It is a continuous part of the COVID-19 vaccine programme. This is shared daily with Local Authority directors of public health to enable them to see emerging trends and act quickly to any developing inequalities locally. Qualitative information and insight on the reasons for vaccine refusal is collected to inform local initiatives to drive uptake.

Vaccine confidence has increased across the population, especially in particularly hesitant groups such as ethnic minorities; YouGov polling indicates a reduction from 63% to 14% hesitancy from October 2020 to August 2021 in ethnic minority groups.

The offer of COVID-19 vaccination remains open to every eligible person. The Government aims to reach every eligible person in the United Kingdom so that they feel confident to come forward to accept the offer.