Large proportion of UK population hesitant over COVID-19 vaccine
Researcher Dr. Alex de Figueiredo from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has conducted a study showing that a significant proportion of people in the UK will probably be reluctant to receive a vaccine to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The study highlights regions and socio-economic groups where reluctance to receive a vaccine is more likely. This could present challenges in achieving population or “herd immunity” more broadly, across all regions of the UK regions, says Figueiredo.
Notably, 13 of the 20 regions with the lowest predicted vaccine acceptance rates were in London and four were in the North West, where rates of COVID-19 are among the highest in the UK.