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GP efforts praised as minority ethnic Covid vaccine uptake triples

GP efforts praised as minority ethnic Covid vaccine uptake triples

An uptick in Covid vaccination uptake among minority ethnic patients is a ‘direct result’ of primary care teams working with community and faith leaders, NHS England’s primary care medical director has said.

Dr Nikki Kanani’s comments came as uptake of Covid-19 vaccines among ethnic minority groups increased from 1.89 million to 5.78 million between 7 February and 7 April.

Uptake among ethnic minority groups increased by 235%, outpacing the national average among all ethnicities (154%) over the same period, NHSE said.

Vaccine uptake among Bangladeshi groups increased five-fold from 29,382 to 152,408, while vaccination in Pakistani groups increased from 88,956 to 367,780.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference last week, Dr Kanani said: ‘One big area that I know rightly has been an area of concern, is uptake among people from ethnic minority backgrounds. That feels really personal to me, both as a GP and as a person of colour in our country.’

She added: ‘The progress 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 us.’

Dr Kanani, who was appointed to co-lead NHS England’s efforts to boost vaccine uptake among minority ethnic NHS staff in January, also highlighted the impact made by specifically considering advice around Ramadan.

NHS Confederation policy director Dr Layla McCay said that the significant increase in uptake among ethnic minority communities is ‘thanks to the innovative and dedicated work of leaders across the NHS – particularly in primary care’.

However, she warned that ‘the Government, the NHS, and the public must remain vigilant against the spread of Covid-19’, and that they ‘do not overestimate’ the current level of public protection against the virus.

She said: ‘With the Prime Minister’s recognition that another Covid-19 surge is predicted this year, it is essential that the health service be adequately supported to face this.

‘Despite everything the NHS has been doing for patients, 4.7 million people are already waiting for NHS treatment, and the Government must not allow future surges of the virus to hinder efforts to reduce the health service’s huge treatment backlog.’

A version of this article was first published by Pulse’s sister title Management in Practice


          

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