‘Third of black adults’ aged 40 and over have not had first vaccine dose

Around a third of black adults in England aged 40 and over have not received a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, new figures suggest.

Some 63.6% of people identifying as black Caribbean are likely to have had their first dose, along with 67.8% of those identifying as black African.

The rates are the lowest among all ethnic groups.

For people identifying as white British, the vaccination rate is 92.6%.

The estimates have been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and are based on first doses of vaccine among people aged 40 and over up to May 15.

Vaccination rates for people from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds are estimated to be 70.3% and 78.6% respectively.

Some 80.3% of people from Chinese backgrounds are likely to have had a first dose, along with 87.5% from Indian backgrounds.

The figures suggest there continues to be a lower take-up of Covid-19 vaccine among some ethnic groups, more than six months since the vaccination roll-out began.

Rates for first doses also differ by religious affiliation.

The lowest rates among people aged 40 and over were for those who identified as Muslim (71.8%) or Buddhist (80.9%), while the figures for people identifying as Christian or Jewish were 92.1% and 91.0% respectively.

For those identifying as Hindu the rate was 89.0%, and for Sikh it was 88.5%.

Among all people aged 40 to 49 in England, 76.6% were estimated to have received a first dose by May 15, the ONS said.

This compares with 90.6% of people aged 50-59; 94.0% aged 60 to 69; 96.6% aged 70 to 79; 97.0% aged 80 to 89; and 96.0% of those aged 90 and over.