Anything that combats vaccine hesitancy is valuable. Why? Because someone who is not vaccinated can be infected with Covid-19, and once inside their body the virus can spew out variants.

Well, a new large-scale study offers insight into one factor affecting vaccine hesitancy.

It shows a quarter of people could have injection phobia and they’re twice as likely to be vaccine hesitant – that is, they’d put off a ­vaccination or indeed, never get the jab.

It seems if all injection anxiety was removed then around 10% of vaccine hesitancy might disappear too.

This became obvious when researchers from the University of Oxford asked 15,014 people in the third Oxford Coronavirus ­Explanations, Attitudes, and Narratives Survey (OCEANS-III) to rate their anxieties about needles and blood. They then asked them about their willingness to receive a Covid-19 vaccine.

Professor Daniel Freeman, study lead, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, said: “For people with injection phobia the sight, say, of a hypodermic needle will prompt an initial increase in heart rate and blood pressure. This may be swiftly followed by a sudden decline in both. When that happens, some people faint.

“People may think twice about joining a queue for a vaccine if they fear they might topple to the ground.”

Typically, the worries of people who are vaccine hesitant are about the safety of the vaccines and disbelief about the seriousness of Covid-19. But with this study we know fear of the needle may also be playing a part.

Vaccine hesitancy is marginally higher among younger people and certain ethnic minority groups. People in these groups are also more likely to have fears of a needle.

Professor Freeman said: “There is much that can be done to help people overcome their fear of needles.

“Cognitive behavioural therapy is typically fast and effective.

“Fainting can be tackled too. Patients can be taught how to recognise early signs of a dip in their blood pressure and to combat this drop by applied muscle tension.”

Professor Helen McShane, professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, highlighted that a fear of needles is a factor in up to 10% of people who are vaccine hesitant.

She said: “Whilst needle-free routes of vaccination, such as via the nose, are being explored, at present the only approved routes of vaccination for Covid-19 vaccines are by injection.”

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford University Vaccine Group, said: “Strategies to address protection for the unvaccinated are urgently needed, including getting access to vaccines for those without it and addressing the fears and concerns of those who decline.”