Overview

The Healthwatch England network gathered views from 15,000 people across England about the Covid-19 vaccine and the roll out. Uptake was still significantly lower among Black and Asian people.

Healthwatch England with the support of the NHS Race Observatory worked with members of our team to talk to 95 participants from African, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, and Pakistani communities, who lacked confidence in the vaccines.

Attitudes to the vaccine were incredibly personal and it was important not to make broad conclusions about the views of whole communities as a result of the findings.

Impact

• A high profile, targeted messaging campaign had created a sense of blame.

• People felt seen as ‘problem groups’, despite not being consulted on engagement methods.

• Participants felt as though they were being judged for displaying hesitancy.

• The extra resource going into the vaccine push made some people more suspicious.

• Bombardment of messaging about the vaccine, added pressure.

• The idea of vaccine passports felt very oppressive for some participants.

The published report can be viewed here.