72% of black Britons are unlikely to have Covid jab: Sir Geoff Palmer theorises why

21 January 2021, 20:57 | Updated: 21 January 2021, 21:02

72% of black Britons are unlikely to take Covid jab, a study has found, and Sir Geoff Palmer theorises why.

72% of black Britons say they are unlikely to be vaccinated against the virus and many would refuse the jab, a study by the UK Household Longitudinal Study found.

The figures for other ethnic minorities in Britain are slightly improved, but there still remains significant 'vaccine hesitancy' in Eastern European communities and among Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups.

Sir Geoff Palmer, Professor Emeritus in the School of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, wrote in a column today: "In my community especially, it is clear there is a terrible absence of trust in government authority, in public health policy and in the science behind the NHS vaccine programme."

Sir Geoff told Iain Dale that in his community people had become "very suspicious" of the Government, a distrust that began at the beginning of the Covid pandemic.

"If we look at people presenting the information and advice, they're all white. In terms of Government and in terms of expertise and therefore you have a situation where we're looking at a problem we have in the country of poor representation, especially of expertise.

"That in fact is another area of suspicion."

He continued that the "misinformation" and "mistakes" of the Government are another reason for distrust.

However, Sir Geoff urged everyone to have the vaccine: "I earnestly encourage everyone who is offered it to have it: there is no surer way to defeat this pandemic and safeguard lives at the same time."