Latest news with #childhoodvaccines
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Why are ethnic minority groups falling behind on vaccines?
Last year data on childhood vaccines was broken down by ethnicity for the first showed a wide variation in uptake across ethnic minority groups and Public Health Scotland called for more work to understand what is going on. In some areas there is concerns that ethnic minority groups are falling behind the rest of the population when it comes to instance, the figures showed that almost a quarter of children of African descent in Scotland had not had their second dose of MMR by the age of was also low for children of Caribbean or Black cases have been increasing across Scotland and experts fear children are missing out on full protection against the potentially deadly disease by not getting their second uptake of vaccines in minority ethnic groups isn't just seen in childhood say Covid-19, flu and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) show similar why are ethnic minority groups often more hesitant when it comes to vaccination? What do the stats show? The BBC has analysed uptake rates across a range of vaccinations and across ethnic MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) across Scotland as a whole, the number of children getting the first dose by the age of two is just below the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of 95% to ensure "herd immunity".The stats show that not as many children from ethnic minority groups, such as African and Caribbean or Black, are getting the first dose by the age of two but they catch up by the time they are five or uptake of the second dose, which provides full coverage against the diseases is concerning health 75% of children in the African ethnic group received the second dose by the age of five last year. The figure was 83.8% for Caribbean or Black people in Scotland and 87.3% in Asian death of a child in Liverpool earlier this month has sparked calls to increase efforts on part of the strategy, Public Health Scotland has introduced a "status check" and an opportunity to catch up on missed MMR doses in secondary to MMR, the HPV, Covid-19 and flu vaccine uptake show trends of lower uptake in minority ethnic Health Scotland data for the last flu vaccine programme shows that uptake varies from 55.2% in the White Scottish group, down to 36.2% in the Arab groups, 34.4% in the Pakistani groups and only 22.6% in the Caribbean groups of eligible adults. Vaccine hesitancy not anti-vax In June, a health inequalities report from Public Health Scotland studied the factors which had affected the uptake of the Covid and Flu vaccines in some ethnic pointed to a lack of trust in organisations promoting the vaccine, not enough information that is culturally and linguistically appropriate, a lack of flexibility in vaccine appointments and perceived harms from vaccines promoted via social Antonia Ho, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Glasgow, tells the BBC it is important to understand that there were many reasons why people don't take up vaccinations - it is not simply a case of them being against vaccination."Vaccine hesitancy shouldn't be conflated with being anti-vax," she Ho says often people who don't take up vaccines have legitimate could include questions such as whether their ethnic group was represented in clinical trials, she research from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) also points to other barriers such as the timing and location of vaccine said: "Research and public health resources are sometimes misdirected by focusing too heavily on vaccine hesitancy, when in fact there are many parents who want to vaccinate but simply can't access services that work for them."The report also acknowledges a "growing disparity in vaccine uptake among some ethnic minority groups, socioeconomically disadvantaged families and migrant communities". Ethnic minorities treated differently Dr Sahira Dar, a GP in Glasgow and president of the British Islamic Medical Association, says it is important not to assign blame to minority ethnic communities. "We know that lower vaccine uptake and challenges to access appropriate health services are interlinked," she Dar says patient experience of healthcare can be more difficult depending on how someone is perceived by healthcare staff."If you are black, brown, or from an ethnic minority or if you are a refugee or a woman wearing a hijab, unfortunately patients from these groups are treated differently," Dr Dar says there is a correlation between these difficulties in healthcare settings and a general mistrust in the an issue that was highlighted in September last year by Scotland's Health Secretary Neil Gray. He acknowledged racism as a "significant public health challenge" and said combatting it was "fundamental" to reducing health inequalities in Scotland. Cultural barriers to healthcare According to Dr Dar, a lack of cultural understanding can be a barrier cites the example of the HPV vaccine, which prevents an infection which is sexually transmitted and is responsible for almost all cases of cervical of the HPV vaccine was reported by ethnicity for the first time in the 2023/2024 school year and it showed the rate was much lower in some ethnic minority first opportunity to get the vaccine is in the first year of secondary school when the White Scottish ethnic group had an uptake of 73.7%.In the same age group, uptake was lower (57.4%) in the Black ethnic group and (53.3%) in the Pakistani ethnic continues to be administered in school until S4, offering opportunities to catch up on coverage. It can also be available further on the some communities there can be stigma attached to conversations about sexual relationships and sexual Dar says some may view getting the HPV vaccine as encouraging Sigi Joseph, a GP in Glasgow, echoes this."Some cultures might think 'well my child isn't going to be having sex', so they might choose not to get the vaccine," she Joseph says understanding of different cultural barriers - such as Muslim women who prefer to be treated by another women for modesty - is vital otherwise it could result in people being turned away from accessing healthcare."If someone's had a stressful or difficult experience, they probably would talk to their friends and family," she says. "How far that filtrates is difficult to know." An overall distrust in 'the system' Dr Josephine Adekola, a senior lecturer specialising in disaster risk management at the University of Glasgow, began investigating the reasons for lower vaccine uptake in Scottish African communities in 2021 during the Covid pandemic - and heard a variety of concerns."A lot of the hesitancy was linked to discriminatory practices and racism," Dr Adekola her study, participants told her about long-running problems, with the immigration sector, schooling, housing, and even insufficient action being taken against workplace discrimination. "The different experiences of policies interrelate with misinformation and disinformation to create so much distrust in this community to make them hesitant," she Adekola says that lack of support and bad experiences with one sector can lead to people grouping separate parts of the government and public bodies together, resulting in an overall distrust in "the system". Misinformation spreads around the world Misinformation about vaccines is a widespread problem Dr Adekola says ethnic minority groups have the extra factor of receiving messages from trusted family members in different countries which contain misinformation or pressure not to get says that during the Covid pandemic she heard misinformation such as the suggestion that Black people were immune to the was also a conspiracy theory that linked getting the vaccine to the "Mark of the Beast" - a Biblical prophecy which says those that aren't "marked" will suffer economically, and those that are will be in allegiance with the is an issue which was also highlighted by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch who grew up in evidence at the UK Covid Inquiry in November 2023, she said there were "lots of conspiracy theories" shared in her own family's WhatsApp group chat and a lack of trust in the government in some communities. The 'ethnicity data gap' Dr Mark Wong, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow and expert in ethnicity data, also believes that racism is the key reason for poorer health outcomes for minority ethnic people and why there is a lower vaccine says people from minority ethnic backgrounds are not taken seriously when in healthcare Wong says they are often dismissed or what they say they are experiencing is not trusted as real."That has led to delays in diagnosis, delays in treatment and sometimes, ultimately, early, unnecessary deaths and health problems," Dr Wong adds that the mistrust minority ethnic people have towards public authorities and the "heightened alertness" in potentially being discriminated against is not fully understood, which results in public health messaging not effectively reaching or convincing minority ethnic communities. Dr Wong says proving the link between lower vaccine uptake and higher deaths in ethnic minority communities during the Covid-19 pandemic had been difficult initially because of a long-standing ethnicity data gap in says there was a "missed opportunity" at the very start of the pandemic to record ethnicity led to experts in Scotland relying on reporting from the rest of the UK which highlighted the disproportionately negative impact on minority ethnic Wong says he had highlighted this in a working group to the Scottish government at the end of 2020, around the same time as the Covid-19 vaccination rollout the recording of ethnicity data only began in November describes having this information documented now as a "turning point" for the quality of ethnicity data for vaccination programmes since response to the BBC's questions on vaccine uptake in ethnic minority groups, a Scottish government spokesperson said: "The Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme will continue to focus on increasing uptake of the MMR vaccine, building confidence in communities and reducing health inequalities. "NHS Boards know their communities best and are responsible for local delivery plans which support accessible and timely vaccination for people who may face barriers to uptake."A Public Health Scotland statement said: "Scotland has a very successful vaccination and immunisation programme with high uptake/coverage rates. "However, as seen in other nations, there have been in declines in uptake over time and persistent health inequalities that leave some communities more vulnerable than others."
Al Arabiya
27-06-2025
- Health
- Al Arabiya
RFK Jr.'s Made Promises About Vaccines. Here's What He's Done as Health Secretary
During his Senate confirmation hearings, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested he wouldn't undermine vaccines. 'I'm not going to go into HHS and impose my preordained opinions on anybody at HHS,' he said. 'I'm going to empower the scientists at HHS to do their job and make sure that we have good science that is evidence-based.' He also said he wouldn't halt congressionally mandated funding for vaccination programs, nor impose conditions that would force local, state, or global entities to limit access to vaccines or vaccine promotion. 'I'm not going to substitute my judgment for science,' he said. Yet, the Department of Health and Human Services under Kennedy has taken unprecedented steps to change how vaccines are evaluated, approved, and recommended–sometimes in ways that run counter to established scientific consensus. Here's a look at what Kennedy has said and done since becoming the nation's top health official on Feb. 13. Kennedy and the childhood vaccine schedule Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who was unsettled about Kennedy's antivaccine work, said Kennedy pledged to him that he wouldn't change existing vaccine recommendations. 'I recommend that children follow the CDC schedule. And I will support the CDC schedule when I get in there,' Kennedy said at his Senate confirmation hearing. Kennedy also said he thought the polio vaccine was safe and effective and that he wouldn't seek to reduce its availability. Feb. 18: Kennedy vows to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio, and other dangerous diseases. Early March: The National Institutes of Health cancels studies about ways to improve vaccine trust and access. April 9: Kennedy tells CBS News that people should get the measles vaccine, but the government should not be mandating those before then, continuing to raise safety concerns about vaccines. May 22: Kennedy issues a report that, among other things, questioned the necessity of mandates that require children to get vaccinated for school admission and suggested that vaccines should undergo more clinical trials, including with placebos. The report has to be reissued later because the initial version cited studies that don't exist. May 30: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removes COVID-19 vaccination guidance for pregnant women and says healthy children may get the shots. June 25: A group of vaccine advisers picked by Kennedy announce they are establishing a work group to evaluate the cumulative effect of the children's vaccine schedule. June 25: Kennedy announces the US will stop supporting the vaccines alliance Gavi. He accuses the group, along with the World Health Organization, of silencing dissenting views and legitimate questions about vaccine safety. Kennedy on revising CDC vaccine recommendations At the confirmation hearing, Cassidy asked Kennedy: 'Do you commit that you will revise any CDC recommendations only based on peer review consensus-based widely accepted science?' Kennedy replied, 'Absolutely,' adding he would rely on evidence-based science. Feb. 20: HHS postpones a meeting of outside vaccine advisers. April 16: The CDC's vaccine advisory panel meets and recommends that people 50 to 59 with certain risk factors should be able to get vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus and endorses a new shot that protects against meningococcal bacteria. As of late June, the CDC and HHS haven't acted on the recommendations. May 27: Kennedy announces that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women–a move immediately questioned by several public health experts. No one from the CDC, the agency that makes such recommendations, is present in the video announcing the changes. June 9: Kennedy ousts all 17 members of the science panel that advises the CDC on how vaccines should be used. June 11: Kennedy names new vaccine policy advisers to replace the panel that he dismissed. They include a scientist who rose to prominence by relaying conspiracy theories around the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccines that followed, a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns, a business school professor, and a nurse affiliated with a group that is widely considered to be a leading source of vaccine misinformation. June 26: Kennedy's vaccine advisers recommend that people receive flu shots free of an ingredient that antivaccine groups have falsely tied to autism. The vote comes after a presentation from an antivaccine group's former leader. A CDC staff analysis of past research on the topic is removed from the agency's website because, according to a committee member, the report hadn't been authorized by Kennedy's office. Kennedy on vaccine approvals and review standards At the Senate hearing, Cassidy asked Kennedy if he would keep FDA's historically rigorous vaccine review standards. 'Yes,' Kennedy replied. March 29: Kennedy forces the FDA's top vaccine official to resign. The official, Peter Marks, says he feared Kennedy's team might manipulate or delete data from a vaccine safety database. May 6: Kennedy names Dr. Vinay Prasad, an outspoken critic of the FDA's handling of COVID-19 boosters, as the FDA's vaccine chief. May 16: After a delay, the FDA grants Novavax full approval for its COVID-19 vaccine, but with unusual restrictions: The agency says it's for use only in adults 65 and older–or those 12 to 64 who have at least one health problem that puts them at increased risk from COVID-19. May 20: Top officials limit the approval for seasonal COVID-19 shots to seniors and others at high risk pending more data on everyone else. The FDA urges companies to conduct large, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for healthier people, a stark break from the previous federal policy recommending an annual COVID-19 shot for all Americans six months and older. May 30: FDA approves a new COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna but with the same limits on who can get it as Novavax's shot. Kennedy on bird flu vaccine At his confirmation hearing, Kennedy said he would support the development of a vaccine for H5N1 bird flu. 'I'm going to continue research on every kind of vaccine,' he said. May 28: The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, an HHS agency, cancels $766 million in awards to Moderna to develop a vaccine against potential pandemic influenza viruses, including the H5N1 bird flu.
Associated Press
27-06-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
RFK Jr.'s made promises about vaccines. Here's what he's done as health secretary
During his Senate confirmation hearings, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested he wouldn't undermine vaccines. 'I am not going to go into HHS and impose my preordained opinions on anybody at HHS,' he said. 'I'm going to empower the scientists at HHS to do their job and make sure that we have good science that is evidence based.' He also said he wouldn't halt congressionally mandated funding for vaccination programs, nor impose conditions that would force local, state or global entities to limit access to vaccines or vaccine promotion. 'I'm not going to substitute my judgment for science,' he said. Yet the Department of Health and Human Services under Kennedy has taken unprecedented steps to change how vaccines are evaluated, approved and recommended — sometimes in ways that run counter to established scientific consensus. Here's a look at what Kennedy has said and done since becoming the nation's top health official on Feb. 13. Kennedy and the childhood vaccine schedule Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who was unsettled about Kennedy's antivaccine work, said Kennedy pledged to him that he wouldn't change existing vaccine recommendations. 'I recommend that children follow the CDC schedule. And I will support the CDC schedule when I get in there,' Kennedy said at his Senate confirmation hearing. Kennedy also said he thought the polio vaccine was safe and effective and that he wouldn't seek to reduce its availability. Feb. 18: Kennedy vows to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. Early March: The National Institutes of Health cancels studies about ways to improve vaccine trust and access. April 9: Kennedy tells CBS News that 'people should get the measles vaccine, but the government should not be mandating those,' before then continuing to raise safety concerns about vaccines. May 22: Kennedy issues a report that, among other things, questioned the necessity of mandates that require children to get vaccinated for school admission and suggested that vaccines should undergo more clinical trials, including with placebos. The report has to be reissued later because the initial version cited studies that don't exist. May 30: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removes COVID-19 vaccination guidance for pregnant women and says healthy children 'may' get the shots. June 25: A group of vaccine advisers picked by Kennedy announce they are establishing a work group to evaluate the 'cumulative effect' of the children's vaccine schedule. June 25: Kennedy announces the U.S. will stop supporting the vaccines alliance Gavi. He accuses the group, along with the World Health Organization, of silencing 'dissenting views' and 'legitimate questions' about vaccine safety. Kennedy on revising CDC vaccine recommendations At the confirmation hearing, Cassidy asked Kennedy: 'Do you commit that you will revise any CDC recommendations only based on peer review, consensus based, widely accepted science?' Kennedy replied, 'Absolutely,' adding he would rely on evidence-based science. Feb. 20: HHS postpones a meeting of outside vaccine advisers. April 16: The CDC's vaccine advisory panel meets and recommends that people 50 to 59 with certain risk factors should be able to get vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus, and endorses a new shot that protects against meningococcal bacteria. As of late June, the CDC and HHS haven't acted on the recommendations. May 27: Kennedy announces that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women — a move immediately questioned by several public health experts. No one from the CDC, the agency that makes such recommendations, is present in the video announcing the changes. June 9: Kennedy ousts all 17 members of the science panel that advises the CDC on how vaccines should be used. June 11: Kennedy names new vaccine policy advisers to replace the panel that he dismissed. They include a scientist who rose to prominence by relaying conspiracy theories around the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccines that followed, a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns, a business school professor, and a nurse affiliated with a group that is widely considered to be a leading source of vaccine misinformation. June 26: Kennedy's vaccine advisers recommend that people receive flu shots free of an ingredient that antivaccine groups have falsely tied to autism. The vote comes after a presentation from an antivaccine group's former leader. A CDC staff analysis of past research on the topic is removed from the agency's website because, according to a committee member, the report hadn't been authorized by Kennedy's office. Kennedy on vaccine approvals and review standards At the Senate hearing, Cassidy asked Kennedy if he would keep FDA's historically rigorous vaccine review standards. 'Yes,' Kennedy replied. March 29: Kennedy forces the FDA's top vaccine official to resign. The official, Peter Marks, says he feared Kennedy's team might manipulate or delete data from a vaccine safety database. May 6: Kennedy names Dr. Vinay Prasad, an outspoken critic of the FDA's handling of COVID-19 boosters, as the FDA's vaccine chief. May 16: After a delay, the FDA grants Novavax full approval for its COVID-19 vaccine but with unusual restrictions: The agency says it's for use only in adults 65 and older – or those 12 to 64 who have at least one health problem that puts them at increased risk from COVID-19. May 20: Top officials limit the approval for seasonal COVID-19 shots to seniors and others at high risk, pending more data on everyone else. The FDA urges companies to conduct large, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for healthier people, a stark break from the previous federal policy recommending an annual COVID-19 shot for all Americans six months and older. May 30: FDA approves a new COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna but with the same limits on who can get it as Novavax's shot. Kennedy on bird flu vaccine At his confirmation hearing, Kennedy said he would support the development of a vaccine for H5N1 bird flu. 'I'm going to continue research on every kind of vaccine,' he said. May 28: The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, an HHS agency, cancels $766 million in awards to Moderna to develop a vaccine against potential pandemic influenza viruses, including the H5N1 bird flu. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
