Influenza vaccine uptake in socially deprived areas: A multilevel retrospective population-based cross-sectional study using electronic health records in Liverpool, United Kingdom

These findings support that deprivation, age, sex, and ethnicity influence influenza vaccine uptake, and that they do so uniquely in Liverpool. While deprivation did not interact with other characteristics, this may be due to the impact of inequality (large deprivation gap between richer and poorer areas) on the whole city, as this is as a social stressor that can impair health outcomes for all, not just those in more deprived areas. Future work should investigate experiences of people in areas with lower uptake in Liverpool, to understand potential barriers and enable targeted intervention.