Characteristics associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake among adults in England (08 December to 17 May 2021)

Tessier, E.; Rai, Y.; Clarke, E.; Lakhani, A.; Tsang, C.; Makwana, A.; Heard, H.; Rickeard, T.; Lakhani, S.; Roy, P.; Edelstein, M.; Ramsay, M.; Lopez Bernal, J.; White, J.; Andrews, N.; Campbell, C.; Stowe, J.

Objective: To determine characteristics associated with COVID-19 vaccine coverage among individuals aged 50 years and above in England since the beginning of the programme. Design: Observational cross-sectional study assessed by logistic regression and mean prevalence margins. Setting: COVID-19 vaccinations delivered in England from 08 December 2020 to 17 May 2021. Participants: 30,624,257/ 61,967,781 (49.4%) and 17,360,045/ 61,967,781 (28.1%) individuals in England were recorded as vaccinated in the National Immunisation Management System with a first dose and a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, respectively. Interventions: Vaccination status with COVID-19 vaccinations. Main Outcome Measures: Proportion, adjusted odds ratios and mean prevalence margins for individuals not vaccinated with dose 1 among those aged 50- 69 years old and dose 1 and 2 among those aged 70 years old and above. Results: Among individuals aged 50 years and above, Black/African/Caribbean ethnic group was the least likely of all ethnic groups to be vaccinated with dose 1 of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, among those aged 70 years and above, the odds of not having dose 2 was 5.53 (95% CI 5.42 to 5.63) and 5.36 (90% CI 5.29 to 5.43) greater among Pakistani and Black/African/Caribbean compared to White British ethnicity, respectively. The odds of not receiving dose 2 was 1.18 (95% CI 1.16 to 1.20) higher among individuals who lived in a care home compared to those who did not. This was the opposite to that observed for dose 1, where the odds of not being vaccinated was significantly higher among those not living in a care home (0.89 (95% CI 0.87 to 0.91)). Conclusions: We found that there are characteristics associated with low COVID-19 vaccine coverage. Inequalities, such as ethnicity are a major contributor to suboptimal coverage and tailored interventions are required to improve coverage and protect the population from SARS-CoV-2.