Vaccination status varies depending on the country where you were born. This is evidenced by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health review of the percentage of vaccinated in different immigrant groups. It is not known what might be causing these differences.
- The immunization program in Norway is good. But we can see that there are differences in some immigrant groups, says infection control director Geir Bukholm of the National Institute of Public Health.
Certain immigrant groups were particularly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak in Norway. Foreign-born people were among those infected and hospitalized throughout the epidemic.
In a new vaccination survey based on the country of birth, the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) looked specifically at three groups. Percentage of vaccinated among the oldest age groups, immunization rates among 18-64 year-olds at risk of major underlying disease, and immunization rates among healthcare workers.
Figure 1 Percentage of people vaccinated with at least one dose of vaccine among people in different countries of birth. This is shown by age group, medical risk groups for severe Covid-19, and healthcare professionals.
Vaccination status in the oldest age groups
Norwegian Institute of Health Public calculated the percentage of vaccinated people in various groups using data from the vaccination register and other registers combined into a special pandemic register Beredt-C19 with access, among others, to the population register, registers containing data on medical risk factors and registers of people employed in various sectors of the economy. The percentage of vaccinated people in three groups was calculated: residents in various age groups above 55 years of age, people aged 18-64
People with diseases and an increased risk of a serious course
People aged 18 to 64 years with underlying diseases or conditions that increase the risk of becoming severely infected with COVID-19 have a more even vaccine coverage. Vaccination performance was highest among those born in Pakistan (56%) and the Philippines (45%). It was the same in the Scandinavian countries. At the same time, the lowest among people born in Iraq (27%), Somalia (25%), Poland (21%), Eritrea (22 Lithuania (17%) and Syria (13%).
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.Health care workers
Healthcare vaccination coverage is highest among those born in Denmark (74%) and Sweden (70%) and lowest among those born in Somalia (39%), Eritrea (36%) and Syria (34%).
Differences in priority areas
NIPH also looked at the differences in vaccination coverage between priority and non-priority geographical areas.
- The identified differences mainly concern the percentage of vaccinated persons in the 55-64 age group. Geographically prioritized areas have a higher percentage of all ethnicities in the country vaccinated. Foreign-born people have as high a vaccination rate as those born in Scandinavia, says Bukholm.
Several different reasons
It is not known exactly what the differences in the number of vaccinated people are between the different countries of origin.
- The cause of the varied number of vaccinations is unknown. A language barrier or other practical barriers such as accessibility may contribute to the fact that some people have not taken up the offer. The information we have received is valuable in further work on ensuring everyone has the same vaccination offer, sums up Bukholm.
