ALMOST 150 health and social care staff who were surveyed by Public Health Scotland declined to take the Covid-19 vaccine, a new report has revealed.

Out of 7067 participants in the ­survey, which ran between March 5 to 19 2021, 143 participants (2.2%) said they had been offered the ­vaccine but declined it.

It comes after a row erupted last week after opposition ­parties accused the Scottish Government of missing a vaccination target to give second doses to everyone in the 40-49 age group by July 26, but on that date only 75.8% of those in the group were double jagged.

Nicola Sturgeon hit back and said that the target would have been impossible without making vaccines compulsory, when they are currently voluntary.

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So what are the barriers to 100% ­uptake? The survey from Public Health Scotland can give us an insight into some of the issues, but there have also been other studies and reports which show a complicated picture.

The Scottish Government have said that 90% of the population, a much higher number than they expected, have taken up a first dose of the vaccine, which is an encouraging sign.

But to safely achieve herd immunity against Covid-19, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that a “substantial proportion of a ­population” would need to be ­vaccinated.

For measles, this requires about 95% of the population to be ­vaccinated, and for polio, the threshold is 80%. But with Covid-19 the WHO says that the proportion needed is “currently ­unknown”.

What did the Public Health Scotland survey tell us about attitudes to the Covid-19 vaccine?

The report, published July 29, analysed responses from 5250 health care workers and 1817 social care staff on their views and experiences of the Covid-19 vaccination programme in Scotland. The survey found that women (2.3%) were almost twice as likely to decline the vaccine as males (1.4%) and those aged 16-29 (6.4%) were four times more likely to decline a vaccination than those 65 and over (1.4%). Those with one child in their household (3.5%) were slightly more likely to decline a vaccine than those with none (2%), and those with a lower household income of under £26,000 (4.1%) were twice as likely to decline the vaccines as those with incomes over £50,000 (1.9%).

The figures represent a small proportion of the population, but it shows there is resistance to vaccines even amongst those who work in health and social care and are more likely to have been exposed to the ­realities of Covid-19.

What about the rest of the population?

The University of Glasgow released a report in April this year which focussed on the health inequalities and how this may impact the uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine. They identified 12 demographics who were likely to face barriers to getting the vaccine, through a mix of ­misinformation, mistrust, lack of information, inability to attend appointments, not being registered at a GP and a variety of other factors.

These groups included BAME and traveller communities, those living in poverty, those who are homeless, people living with disabilities and even people in rural areas who may not have access to transport to get to their appointment.

How many people are actively resistant to being vaccinated in Scotland?

According to a report co-authored by academics across the UK and Ireland and released in January 2021 on Nature Communications, there is a small proportion of the population in Scotland who are actively resistant to being vaccinated.

The article looked at the psychological characteristics of those who are either hesitant over vaccinations or actively resistant. The data was collected at the very start of the pandemic, before the vaccine rollout, were asked “If a new vaccine were to be developed that could prevent Covid-19, would you accept it for yourself?”

Those who responded yes, were classified as accepting, those who said maybe as hesitant, and those who said no as resistant. It found that in Scotland, of those who responded, 6.7% were resistant to vaccines. This is higher than the result across the UK as a whole (6.1%), in England (5.9%) and Wales (5.2%). It should be noted however that Ireland (9.5% resistant) and Northern Ireland (16.3% resistant) had much higher figures.

The psychological ­characteristics that the paper said was evident amongst the hesitant and resistant groups included lower level of trust in health care professionals, scientists and the state, higher levels of paranoia and higher levels of neuroticism.

What impact has the anti-vax movement and social media had on uptake?

It's difficult to pin down the extent to which the anti-vax movement is active in Scotland, but it isn’t a new phenomenon.

The Scottish Anti-Vaccination League was formed in early 1896 to fight compulsory inoculation, but in the modern era this has erupted on social media and is currently causing problems in the United States as reports suggest high levels of ­vaccine resistance amongst conservative and evangelical Americans, many of whom were loyal to Donald Trump.

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And Scotland isn’t immune. Just last week boxer Josh Taylor came ­under fire for telling his 125,000 Twitter followers that his immune system would “do its job” and spreading anti-vax messaging. And earlier this month, a beauty therapist from ­Glasgow told customers she wouldn’t treat anyone who had a Covid-19 jag.

What do the Scottish Government say about the issue?

We asked the Scottish Government for their position on reaching 100% uptake, and their plans to tackle it.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Humza Yousaf said: “While we are aware of some vaccine hesitancy in some communities, and are undertaking measures to address this, it should be noted that we are still in the active delivery stage of the vaccination programme.

The National: Health Secretary Humza Yousaf

“Though a small number of individuals may choose not to attend their scheduled second appointment, some people may be unable to attend an appointment at a set time and will get their second dose at a later date.

“We are working to make it as ­simple as possible for people to get their vaccines, and are increasing the options available for how and when people choose to be vaccinated.

“Vaccination, along with testing, remains our best route out of the pandemic and easing restrictions where we can, and we continue to strongly encourage everyone to come forward for their second dose.”