Think-tank calls for concerted action on vaccination

News - 4 January 2023

Nearly one in five adults (18 per cent) still doesn’t feel safe in public spaces, such as restaurants or public transport, because of Covid, according to a new report by a national think-tank.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said a YouGov poll it commissioned showed ongoing concern about catching coronavirus in public spaces. But the poll also revealed 23 per cent of adults would not get a flu vaccine if invited this winter, while other analysis had found a decline in uptake in every single national childhood immunisation in the last year. To improve vaccination across the board, the IPPR called for:

  • The government to permanently reinstate and expand the Community Champions scheme to encourage uptake for all vaccines through a £400m fund to all councils

  • An expansion of school nurses, to least one for every 600 children, to help build long-term trust in vaccinations through better engagement with pupils and parents

  • New legal rights for employees to get time off work to attend vaccination appointments and get sick pay for time off due to any vaccine side effects

  • The government to set up a permanent health disinformation aimed at young people, to devise new ways to reach online communities with accurate information on vaccines.

Efua Poku-Amanfo, IPPR researcher and lead author of the report, said:

“We must continue to harness vaccine’s preventative potential in UK health policy, but their benefits are at risk due to vaccine inequality. People on low incomes or from marginalised backgrounds are more likely to face barriers to taking up vaccinations. The government must learn the lessons from the pandemic and focus on structural solutions to tackle vaccine inequality.”

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