Nearly a quarter of British health workers wary of Covid-19 vaccine

Study of 11,584 staff found hesitancy was higher among BAME workers, as well as younger staff

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Up to a quarter of British healthcare workers have expressed hesitancy towards Covid-19 vaccines, the first comprehensive study of NHS and care staff suggests. Conspiracy beliefs, a paucity of black and ethnic minority participants in vaccine trials, or assuming immunity to Covid-19 because of previous infection were some of the key reasons cited.

Understanding these drivers is important, because without this understanding you can't implement any interventions," said Dr Manish Pareek, associate clinical professor in infectious diseases at the University of Leicester who led the study.