Characterising adults in Scotland who are not vaccinated against COVID-19

Hameed, Safraj Shahul and Hall, Elliott and Grange, Zoe and Sullivan, Christopher and Kennedy, Sharon and Ritchie, Lewis D and Agrawal, Utkarsh and Simpson, Colin R and Shah, Syed Ahmar and Rudan, Igor and McCowan, Colin and Murray, Josephine L K and Robertson, Chris and Sheikh, Aziz (2022) Characterising adults in Scotland who are not vaccinated against COVID-19. Lancet, 400 (10357). pp. 993-995. ISSN 0140-6736 (https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01653-1)

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Abstract

By Aug 10, 2022, 3 497 208 of the estimated 4·4 million adults living in Scotland had received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. However, a proportion of the adult population remains unvaccinated (defined as no record of any vaccine being administered) and susceptible to severe COVID-19 outcomes. Characterising this population can help to understand gaps in vaccine coverage and determinants of vaccine hesitancy and could support targeted public health messaging. Unlike the vaccinated population, on whom information is gathered at the point of vaccination, current estimates of the unvaccinated population are calculated using general practitioner (GP) records. However, complications arise because GP records can include people who have moved away from Scotland; estimates suggest that GP records contain a population 8% greater than National Records of Scotland population estimates.