OPINION
UNITE-CPHVA VIRTUAL EVENT
REBUILDING TRUST A panel of esteemed speakers convened by Unite-CPHVA explored vaccine uptake among black, Asian and ethnic minority communities.
he roll-out of the Covid vaccines across the UK has been a huge success, but a significant uptake gap has opened up, with fewer people from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds getting the jab than white people, even though they have been hardest hit by the pandemic. At this live virtual member event on 8 April, speakers offered insights into the complex issues behind this picture, and how the vaccination programme might reach more communities. Organised by Unite (health) lead professional officer Ethel Rodrigues, the discussion and question session were chaired by CPHVA Executive chair Janet Taylor. The event kicked off with an explanation of how the body’s immune system works and the function of vaccinations from Dr Donald Palmer, an associate professor of immunology. Then followed other speakers exploring the issues. Here’s a summary…
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‘A lot of this mistrust isn’t just coming from misinformation’ MARSHA DE CORDOVA Shadow secretary of state for equalities Marsha called for ‘a proper plan of communication and engagement that really reaches into every community and builds up the trust’. She said: ‘A lot of this mistrust isn’t just coming from misinformation. It’s from many historical incidents of medical and structural racism and inequality.’
She was critical of the recently published government-commissioned report into racial inequality, which she said ‘downplays the role of inequality and structural and institutional racism, particularly in our health service’. ‘This kind of language and this kind of narrative will not go any way into promoting the take-up that we need to ensure that all of our communities remain protected,’ she added.
‘This virus hasn’t been the great leveller’ SADIQ KHAN London mayor Sadiq began by thanking CPs and HVs for doing ‘an amazing job’, saying he was ‘in awe’ of them for ‘literally risking your personal safety to keep us, our families and communities safe’. He described the pandemic’s unequal toll, saying: ‘This virus hasn’t been the great leveller; although we are all facing the same storm, we are in differentsized boats.’ During the first wave, ‘black British people were four times more likely to lose their lives than white British people’, while in the second wave ‘if you were a British person of Pakistani or Bengali origin you were three times more likely to lose your life.’
‘The bad news is compounded when you see the take-up rate for the vaccine,’ added Sadiq, with 90% of white British people over 70 having received the jab, compared to 60% of those above the age of 70 who are black African for example. He said the government ‘has not understood there is a very good reason why people of colour aren’t receiving the vaccine. It’s because their experience of government, their experience of people in positions of power and influence, hasn’t been a good one.’ He concluded: ‘As we come out of the lockdown restrictions, we have got to be vigilant about the consequences of this virus and make sure we have trusted message carriers educating people across the country.’
24 COMMUNITY PRACTITIONER | MAY / JUNE 2021
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07/05/2021 16:46
