Northern Ireland

20% difference in vaccine uptake among younger people 'in most and least affluent areas'

Patricia Donnelly, Head of the north's Covid-19 Vaccine Programme. Picture by Mal McCann
Patricia Donnelly, Head of the north's Covid-19 Vaccine Programme. Picture by Mal McCann Patricia Donnelly, Head of the north's Covid-19 Vaccine Programme. Picture by Mal McCann

THE head of Northern Ireland's Covid vaccination programme has said she "applauds" a bereaved man who urged people to get jabbed after losing two members of his family to the virus.

Patricia Donnelly said the plea made by Kevin McAllister during his "great sorrow" will resonate more than any public information campaign.

Mr McAllister's 32-year-old daughter, Sammie-Jo Forde, passed away at the weekend. Her mother, Heather Maddern, died on August 31. Neither of the women, who were both care workers, were vaccinated.

As concerns mount about Northern Ireland's Covid death toll - which is three times higher than the Republic - Ms Donnelly and her team have been targeting areas where vaccine uptake is lower, particularly working class communities.

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While 87 per cent of adults have now had a first dose, there is a major push to increase rates to 90 per cent in order to cut hospital admissions and fatalities. Just over a quarter of under-30s have not been jabbed, while overall uptake is lower than Britain and the Republic.

Ms Donnelly told The Irish News: "We can be as persuasive as we can and put out public information – but often the only thing that influences a person to come forward are stories like Mr McAllister's when they can identify with the pain this family is going through.

"I am heartbroken for them. That’s why I always feel a very strong sense of responsibility for making sure that the opportunities are there for people to get vaccinated and that we’ve worked as hard as possible to reach them.

"Sadly, these are the painful stories that impact. In grief, people get very private but this father knows what he has said will make a difference in some people stepping forward. So I really do applaud him at a time of great sorrow that he could make that enormous effort to do that."

Ms Donnelly stressed however the north's higher death rate and infections could not be linked to vaccinations alone - and warned of a noticeable drop in mask wearing, hand hygiene rules and social distancing.

"There a palpable sense with people thinking 'this is over' when this is seriously as threatening a time it can be given the amount of circulating virus," she added.

The 67-year-old former clinical psychologist - who came out of retirement last year to oversee the mass vaccination programme - also pointed to the impact of social deprivation.

She revealed a 20 per cent difference in uptake rates between more affluent and poorest areas as they "dropped down" to the younger age groups.

Housing estates have been targeted by her team in recent weeks and she said they were "amazed" by the number of people "of all ages" with limited access to transport and who didn't want to leave their own environment.

Shopping centres have also been visited by vaccinators, with The Quays in Newry operating a pop-up site 11 times where uptake has been "great".

"We know that in Northern Ireland, we have some of the most deprived wards of anywhere in the UK," Ms Donnelly said.

"When we look at the over-50s, there’s no real difference between the most deprived and least deprived areas in the uptake. People are coming forward because their personal risk transcends all of that, they absolutely want to be secure.

"But as we drop down through the age ranges, you are seeing a difference. There’s a 20 per cent difference between the most affluent and least affluent areas in terms of uptake rates."

The vaccine chief "takes comfort" in the fact almost three-quarters of under-30s have been jabbed but expressed frustration at the impact of the "pseudo science" on social media.

She also warned that many younger people don't see themselves at risk - especially those who played sport.

Ms Donnelly said a rush for vaccines among the GAA community only happened after a club member became seriously ill.

Last month Kilcoo man Kieran Rogers (46) made an impassioned plea from his ICU bed for people to get jabbed after contracting the virus.

"Sports people will assess their risk really carefully and think - 'I’ve got all the right things going for me'. They don’t understand that this is a virus that doesn’t respect that. This is a virus that has mutated to be extremely infectious.

"For a professional sportsperson, they’ve had a life where they are monitored for the type of drugs they put in their system and they are very suspicious about everything, I do understand that suspicion.. But if they took the time to weigh up the risks of this virus against the very tiny risks in these vaccines they would make a different decision. Sometimes it is the bitter experience and we’re hearing this all the time.

"We noticed with the GAA clubs, it was only when there was a death or serious illness of a member associated with them that we got the call-outs from the clubs.

"They asked us to do vaccinations in their grounds. Our teams went in and got great uptake. We were surprised at just how few people were vaccinated prior to that. But again, they were fit and healthy and didn’t see themselves at risk.

"Sometimes it takes a long time for people to get that message and it is a personal one. I think a lot of people have assumed that many people who have died have complex medical histories. We know that's not the case."

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