Around a third of black adults in England aged 40 and over have not received a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, new figures suggest.
Some 63.6 per cent of people identifying as black Caribbean are likely to have had their first dose, along with 67.8 per cent of those identifying as black African.
The rates are the lowest among all ethnic groups.
For people identifying as white British, the vaccination rate is 92.6 per cent.
The estimates have been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and are based on first doses of vaccine among people aged 40 and over up to May 15th.
Vaccination rates for people from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds are estimated to be 70.3 per cent and 78.6 per cent respectively.
Some 80.3 per cent of people from Chinese backgrounds are likely to have had a first dose, along with 87.5 per cent from Indian backgrounds.
The figures suggest there continues to be a lower take-up of Covid-19 vaccine among some ethnic groups, more than six months since the vaccination roll-out began.
Religious affiliation
Rates for first doses also differ by religious affiliation.
The lowest rates among people aged 40 and over were for those who identified as Muslim (71.8 per cent) or Buddhist (80.9 per cent), while the figures for people identifying as Christian or Jewish were 92.1 per cent and 91.0 per cent respectively.
For those identifying as Hindu the rate was 89.0 per cent, and for Sikh it was 88.5 per cent.
Among all people aged 40 to 49 in England, 76.6 per cent were estimated to have received a first dose by May 15th, the ONS said.
This compares with 90.6 per cent of people aged 50-59; 94.0 per cent aged 60 to 69; 96.6 per cent aged 70 to 79; 97.0 per cent aged 80 to 89; and 96.0 per cent of those aged 90 and over.
