The impact of targeted local outreach clinics to improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake: controlled interrupted time series in South West England

Abstract

Abstract Background Outreach clinics were part of efforts to maximise uptake in COVID-19 vaccination. Methods We used controlled interrupted time series, matching on age, sex, deprivation and vaccination eligibility date, to determine the effect of outreach clinics on time to first COVID-19 vaccine, using a population-based electronic health record database of 914,478 people, from December 2020 to December 2021; people living within 1 mile of each outreach clinics were exposed. Results 50% of 288,473 exposed citizens were white British, and 71% were aged 0–49 years. There was no evidence for an overall statistically significant increase in cumulative percentage vaccinated due to the outreach clinic at 6 weeks, with an overall pooled effect estimate of -0.07% (95% CI: -1.15%, 1.02%). The pooled estimate for increased cumulative vaccine uptake varied slightly depending on how the analysis was stratified; by ethnic group it was − 0.12% (95% CI: -0.90%, 0.66%); by age group it was − 0.06% (95% CI: -0.41%, 0.28%); and by deprivation it was 0.03% (95% CI: -0.74%, 0.79%). Conclusions Living within a mile of an outreach clinic was not associated with higher vaccine uptake. Evaluation of future outreach clinics should consider the relative importance of travel amongst other barriers to accessing vaccines.

Keywords

• Vaccines
• Healthcare disparities
• Interrupted Time Series Analysis
• SARS-CoV-2