2024-01-16 16:41:00
The UK’s first population-wide research study highlights gaps in COVID-19 vaccine coverage, with between a third and half of the population not having received the recommended number of vaccines and boosters. This research provides crucial information on vaccination acceptance and hesitancy, which could inform policymakers.
Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh highlights the importance of COVID-19 vaccines, saying they save lives and will help identify groups in society where public health campaigns should focus. The highest rates of under-vaccination were found in younger people, men, people in areas of greater deprivation and people of non-white ethnicity. Undervaccination was associated with significantly more hospitalizations and deaths in all age groups studied.
The result of the research is a powerful validation of the benefits of vaccination. The findings suggest that improved vaccination coverage could have prevented more than 7,000 hospitalizations and deaths in 2022. This study will provide data-driven insights into COVID-19 vaccination coverage and establish data collection methods and infrastructure for future studies.
The full article was published in The Lancet magazine.
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