Reports of 'vaccine hesitancy' in minority ethnic groups in Scotland

Concerns have been raised over “vaccine hesitancy” among some minority ethnic groups in Scotland in relation to the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines.

This includes asylum seekers who associate the official nature of the programme with possible links to the Home Office, “anti-vaxx” sentiments and concern from some groups of African origin over a history of being used as “guinea pigs” for medical treatments.

Danny Boyle, policy officer for BEMIS Scotland, an umbrella group representing organisations working with ethnic minorities, presented research into attitudes towards the vaccine in minority groups to MSPs at the Covid-19 committee on Thursday.

He said one of the major issues was that Scotland did not currently collect ethnicity data while giving Covid-19 vaccines, so the scale of vaccine refusal among minority ethnic communities could not be quantified.

UK Government Minister for Equalities, Kemi Badenoch, receiving her first vaccination as part of the Novavax phase 3 trial, which she is taking part in at Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London. Two MPs from the Labour and Conservative parties volunteered for vaccine trials, following a call for more ethnic minority volunteers.

Mr Boyle identified four areas of concern, saying reasons for vaccine hesitancy among minorities are the same as among the population overall, but the survey highlighted further issues.

“For asylum seekers, if it looks like the Home Office – if it is seen to come from an official source – there is routinely a concern for these communities in engaging via these normal practises which all of us would potentially take for granted,” he said.

Mr Boyle added: “For newer migrant communities, Eastern Europeans, we’ve established that there’s a bit of a hangover from the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, with a strong anti-vaxx sentiment within some Eastern European demographics, particularly younger populations.”

He said appropriate language had been a challenge for multi-generational ethnic minority communities.

One of the most concerning results, he said, related to black and African communities.

Mr Boyle said: “There is a concern and a misrepresentation within some groups that the vaccine is still at a process of using some ethnic minority communities, particularly African and black people who have suffered a history of racialisation, that they are being used as guinea pigs.”

Asked about the findings on Thursday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the Scottish Government would “work to overcome” reluctance in some groups.

Chief nursing officer Nicola Steedman said the government had a “comprehensive surveillance programme” of vaccine update and had taken steps such as translating vaccine-related material into different languages, and engaging with leaders in communities where vaccine hesitancy might be expected to encourage take-up.

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