Health board hits back with evidence after media wrongly reports claiming ‘anti-vaccine mood hardening’ in North Wales

Claims that anti-vaccine sentiment is becoming stronger in North Wales are “not borne out by the evidence”, the region’s health board has said.

Last week, Reach PLC’s “Daily Post” title ran a story on the latest uptake figures of the Covid-19 vaccine headlined “Anti-vaccine mood hardens as 93% of unjabbed people refuse call-up on one day”.

It highlighted figures which showed health staff called 1,513 people in the area to offer appointments on a single day and only 111 took up the opportunity.

However, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has dismissed the title’s suggestion that “pockets of vaccine refuseniks are digging in”.

It said the number of people who actively refused the vaccine was low, with most of the calls simply going unanswered.

In her latest weekly update, Gill Harris, the health board’s executive director of nursing and midwifery, said: “In last week’s COVID-19 vaccination update we provided an overview of the lengths our staff have gone to in order to ensure that people have the opportunity to be vaccinated.

“We cited the efforts of our COVID-19 Vaccination Contact Centre staff, who attempted to contact around 1,500 people over the Bank Holiday weekend, leading to 111 booked vaccination appointments.

“This was reported by some of our local media as evidence of ‘anti-vaccine mood hardening’ across the region. However, this is simply not borne out by the evidence.

“Almost 60 per cent of the 1,500 phone calls made by our staff went unanswered, while over half of those we managed to speak to said they had already been vaccinated, had an appointment booked, or planned to book online.

“Appointments were booked for 20 per cent of those we managed to speak to, while just seven per cent said they did not want to be vaccinated.”

Over 80% of people in North Wales now double jabbed 

Nearly 90 per cent of the eligible population of North Wales have had their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 82 per cent have had their second.

Ms Harris said: “We have seen good take up among 16-17-year-olds with almost 10,000 COVID-19 vaccinations administered.

“To enable further take up across our broad geography we will be deploying our mobile vaccination units to target those aged 16-17, as we are well aware that this age group can find it difficult to travel to vaccination centres because they are more reliant on public transport and lifts from family members.

“In support of this we will be working with our local authorities and colleges across the region over the coming weeks.

“We’d like to remind all those eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine that it’s quick and easy to book your first or second dose using our online booking service or by attending one of our walk in sessions, for which appointments are not required.”

COVID-19 vaccine booster

The health board is still awaiting final advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the scope of the COVID-19 booster programme.

Ms Harris said: “We ask those who are likely to be eligible based on the JCVI’s interim advice to please be patient and remember that there is no need to contact us to book an appointment. You will be contacted directly when it is your turn.

“Due to the way in which the COVID-19 and Flu vaccinations are delivered and the expected start dates for the respective campaigns, it will not be standard practice to give people these jabs at the same time.”

Recruitment success

Following a recruitment event last month, the North Wales health board will be welcoming around 50 additional staff into its vaccination teams in the coming weeks.

In some cases, new recruits will replace current vaccination staff, who are returning to their substantive roles across the health board.

Further recruitment events may be held in the coming weeks. Ms Harris said: “These will be widely publicised on social media and on our website.”

Update: USA megacorp Gannett Co. Inc. subsidiary Newsquest’s ‘local’ title North Wales Pioneer had a go at this article, but pulled the quote the health board was challenging into their headline without qualifying that ‘mood hardening’ was actually not true…