• Elaine Robertson, Kelly S Reeve, Claire L Niedzwiedz, Jamie Moore, Margaret Blake, Michael Green, Katikireddi Srinivasa Vittal SV MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, UK; Public Health Scotland, UK. Electronic address: Vittal.Katikiredd, and Michaela J Benzeval.
• MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, UK.
• Brain Behav. Immun. 2021 May 1; 94: 41-50.

AbstractVaccine hesitancy could undermine efforts to control COVID-19. We investigated the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the UK and identified vaccine hesitant subgroups. The 'Understanding Society' COVID-19 survey asked participants (n = 12,035) their likelihood of vaccine uptake and reason for hesitancy. Cross-sectional analysis assessed vaccine hesitancy prevalence and logistic regression calculated odds ratios. Overall vaccine hesitancy was low (18% unlikely/very unlikely). Vaccine hesitancy was higher in women (21.0% vs 14.7%), younger age groups (26.5% in 16-24 year olds vs 4.5% in 75 + ) and those with lower education levels (18.6% no qualifications vs 13.2% degree qualified). Vaccine hesitancy was high in Black (71.8%) and Pakistani/Bangladeshi (42.3%) ethnic groups. Odds ratios for vaccine hesitancy were 13.42 (95% CI:6.86, 26.24) in Black and 2.54 (95% CI:1.19, 5.44) in Pakistani/Bangladeshi groups (compared to White British/Irish) and 3.54 (95% CI:2.06, 6.09) for people with no qualifications versus degree. Urgent action to address hesitancy is needed for some but not all ethnic minority groups.Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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