Vaccine uptake among all ethnic minorities tripled in the UK, says Dr Nikki Kanani

VACCINE uptake from all ethnic minority backgrounds has tripled in the UK, outpacing the national average across all ethnicities, a top official has said.

"Two months ago, on behalf of the NHS, I set out our action plan to boost uptake across people from ethnic minority backgrounds. And I’m pleased to say we have made really significant progress," said Dr Nikki Kanani, medical director of primary care for NHS England, at a Downing Street press conference.

“Take up among people from a Pakistani background is more than four times higher than it was in February and a five-fold increase in people taking up the vaccine, from a Bangladeshi background."

The latest figures show that vaccine uptake among ethnic minority groups tripled from 7 Feb 2021 to 7 April 2021, an increase of 235 per cent, from 1.89 million to 5.78 million. The national average among all ethnicities over the same period was 154 per cent.

The uptake among Bangladeshi groups increased five-fold, from 29,382 to 152,408, and that among Pakistani groups increased four-fold, from 88,956 to 367,780.

According to Dr Kanani, the progress in vaccine uptake is a direct result of a combination of NHS teams who know and understand their communities, community and faith leaders who’ve worked really closely with the health service.

"Practical considerations about Ramadan and other local nuances and really strong high profile backing from high profile people such as Bake Off’s Nadiya Hussein, comedian Lenny Henry and TV star Adil Ray have really helped," she said.

“So I want to thank everyone involved in this effort: you’ve saved lives.”