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HEALTH WARNING
We are no longer updating our Covid-19 hub regularly. That includes this page. Click here for the latest.
The vaccine crisis affecting working age men
24/06/21 .
News
The Forum is calling on governments to act as data from England and Scotland shows a growing shortfall in vaccination amongst working age men in England and younger men in Scotland.
In England, 19.4% of men aged 18-24 have had their first jab compared to 28.0% of women. Amongst men aged 25-29, 30.5% have had their first jab compared to 39.4% of women. Men of every age are less likely to be vaccinated than women - but the differences are biggest (5% or more) amongst men under 55. Overall 53.1% of men have had their first vaccination vs. 59% of women.
In Scotland, 36.9% of men aged 18-29 have had their first vaccination compared to 46.8% of women.
On second vaccinations, the figures are even more stark.
In England, 9.5% of men aged 18-24 have had their second jab compared to 16.4% of women. Amongst men aged 25-29, 12.0% have had their second jab compared to 20.6% of women. Overall 37.2% of men have had their second vaccination vs. 44.7% of women.
In Scotland, 12.1% of men aged 18-29 have had their second vaccination compared to 21.9% of women – and 17.6% of men aged 30-39 have had their second vaccination compared to 30.8% of women.
Given the dramatically higher risk of hospitalisation and mortality amongst working age men, this needs specific and urgent focus.
The Men’s Health Forum is calling for:
- A government commitment to take action to close the gap
- Detailed inequalities analysis to see if particular groups of men (age, ethnicity, work status, type of employment) are particularly likely to not get vaccinated.
- Research, communications and targeted outreach and vaccination programmes to tackle complacency and reduce the barriers to uptake
Forum CEO Martin Tod said:
These figures show that the vaccination programme is falling short amongst working-age and younger men. Given that working-age men are much more likely to die or need hospitalisation from COVID than women, this needs urgent action. Not enough has been done to make men of all ages aware of the higher risk they face – now we’re paying the price.
- Forum blog: Is time the reason men aren't being vaccinated?
- Figures for England (see figures 57/58)
- Figures for Scotland (Click on the ‘Vaccination’ tab. Under ‘Vaccinations by NHS Board | Local Authority, age group and sex’ select “Total by sex and age group”.)
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The Men’s Health Forum need your support It’s tough for men to ask for help but if you don’t ask when you need it, things generally only get worse. So we’re asking. In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. If we had health policies and services that better reflected the needs of the whole population, it might not be like that. But it is. Policies and services and indeed men have been like this for a long time and they don’t change overnight just because we want them to. It’s true that the UK’s men don’t have it bad compared to some other groups. We’re not asking you to ‘feel sorry’ for men or put them first. We’re talking here about something more complicated, something that falls outside the traditional charity fund-raising model of ‘doing something for those less fortunate than ourselves’. That model raises money but it seldom changes much. We’re talking about changing the way we look at the world. There is nothing inevitable about premature male death. Services accessible to all, a population better informed. These would benefit everyone - rich and poor, young and old, male and female - and that’s what we’re campaigning for. We’re not asking you to look at images of pity, we’re just asking you to look around at the society you live in, at the men you know and at the families with sons, fathers and grandads missing. Here’s our fund-raising page - please chip in if you can.
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