Exploring COVID-19 vaccine confidence with people from Black and Asian backgrounds in England

Aims: Little research has examined factors underlying COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy or refusal in Black and Asian individuals in England, among whom hesitancy tends to be higher than in the general population. This qualitative study aimed to gain an understanding of factors affecting hesitancy in Black and Asian individuals in England, to help address concerns about having the vaccine.
Method: Ninety-five participants (51 women, 42 men, 2 other; 58% were aged between 30 and 49) recruited via a market recruitment agency, local Healthwatch networks and using a snowballing method, participated in four activities on an online engagement platform, sharing their attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, and factors shaping their beliefs and concerns, over five weeks April-March 2021.
Results: Inductive thematic analysis revealed five themes: 1. A variety of views on the COVID-19 vaccine, 2. Targeted messaging for Black and Asian people as counterproductive, 3. Confusion over the purpose of the vaccine roll-out, 4. Hesitancy to take the vaccine, and 5. Local networks as a trusted source of information.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that respecting individuals’ agency, transparency of information provided, and the independence of the bodies providing this information, is important. Instead of targeted messaging, local networks should be used in campaigns to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Black and Asian individuals.