Exploring the Psychological Drivers and Impact of Public Health Communications on Vaccination Beliefs of Minority Ethnic Groups, 2022

This project was funded as part of UKRI’s rapid response to COVID-19 to provide real-time data to support the development of tailored public health guidance about the COVID-19 vaccine for ethnic minority communities in the UK. The aim of this study was to understand the impact of public health communications on the experiences and beliefs about COVID-19 vaccinations for minority ethnic groups in the UK. This involved: • A rapid systematic literature review of factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination uptake in minority ethnic groups. • Three waves of in-depth interviews and focus groups with (i) practitioners in local public health and community organisations, and (ii) residents from diverse communities in London and Birmingham were conducted between September 2021 and June 2022. • Collation of COVID-19 vaccine communications targeting Black and Asian audiences in the UK that were released between January 2021 and June 2022. Practitioner interviews identified public health communication challenges relating to the knowledge, skills and capacity required to develop appropriately tailored messages. They also demonstrated the effectiveness of co-produced, two-way local communications using trusted expert sources and communication channels that are preferred by communities. Resident interviews highlighted differences within- and between- minority ethnic group attitudes and experiences. They also indicated that anti-vax messages were being shared via multiple sources with varying impacts, including on community cohesion as well as vaccine behaviours. The longitudinal design revealed that strongly positive and negative vaccine attitudes held over time, but also showed changes in attitudes, risk perceptions and behaviours relating to individual and peer experiences during the pandemic, as well as changes in government and public health responses. These findings suggest that the experience of the COVID-19 vaccine has increased delay or refusal of other routinely available vaccines, due to increased information-seeking and a desire to regain autonomy over health decision-making.