Tackling barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake in London

If vaccine programmes are to achieve sufficient coverage, vaccine uptake must be high across the country and amongst all social groups. In London, vaccine uptake has historically been lower than other regions of England. This may partly be explained by its population make-up, as vaccine uptake tends to be lower in deprived areas and amongst ethnic minority groups.

Against this backdrop, this project analyses patterns of, and inequalities in, COVID-19 vaccine uptake across London. Adopting mixed-methods, it explores barriers to vaccination and interventions to tackle these, providing key learning for the ongoing UK and international COVID-19 and other immunisation programmes.

Our comprehensive investigation of the early stages of COVID-19 vaccine uptake in London found that:

• Lower vaccine uptake amongst black and ethnic minority groups was driven by mistrust in both the information provided and in government institutions.
• Access issues (location of vaccine centres and opening hours) were also a barrier, particularly for zero hours and shift workers. 
• Hyper-local initiatives, co-designed and delivered by communities, which cross organisational boundaries, are key to tackling vaccine barriers and addressing deep embedded mistrust.

University College London (UCL)

Public Health England London

UCLPartners

NHS England and NHS Improvement London

Greater London Authority

Association of Directors of Public Health

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)