You clearly didn't read the piece through. This kind of response does not help and is better suited in the social media forums creating misinformation and distrust. As a black therapist in the NHS who HAS had her first vaccine, I can assure you that BAME staff are not hesitating because the vaccines were developed in majority white countries. What an absolutely ridiculous and incendiary thing to say. There are multiple reasons, including a number actually stated in the article - if you read it. I suggest you do.
To anyone out there who is BAME and who doesn't trust 'the establishment' in the west, and thus doesn't want the Pfizer, Moderna or AZ vaccines- would they still refuse a Chinese vaccine? Or a Cuban one? How about the Indian one?
If you only refuse a vaccine because it was made in and developed by a majority white country, you're a racist.
There are BAME healthcare professionals actively engaging with this and journalists interviewing people in all, our and their own local communities to try to find out why people are breaking restrictions or don't think they apply to them, and to learn why someone may refuse vaccines. We need to know why.
A group of young asian men stopped in the street were asked by someone with the Asian Network why they were out. Their answers? They hadn't really thought about it. That was it. Over the past year of the pandemic.
They were asked slightly probing questions about having older family members. It just didn't apply to them. They were bored, so went out to meet friends. Masks or social distancing? It all seemed a bit of a laugh. It seemed as if they just couldn't imagine or empathise at all. Was it bravado to ignore it all? They weren't those of a similar age who are junior doctors in our hospitals. Is it that strongest messages some have grown up with mean they see themselves so apart from mainstream which is seen as 'white' synonymous with 'government' messaging so it doesn't apply to them so they pay little attention to it? How do you counter that? As soon as people attach conspiracies to religious messaging it needs religious leaders to fight that misinformation. Local Church of England vicars do not wield this power any longer.
White anti-vaccine incidents display a similar level of separatist mentality dispersed across the UK, but are they more diverse areas? Deprived areas? Urban? Periurban? What's the level of general education? Shared language? Occupations?
I have no answer as to how to challenge this, other than to keep engaging and to build trust somehow. Particularly in schools and homes. This was an issue before and across the UK, but there are people who believe that wider rules and cultural norms or expectations do not apply to them. There is no 'national culture' in some respects, we don't all think the same and we all seem to see increasingly see ourselves and our families and communities as the exception.
Can’t help but feel that some of the replies on here demonstrate why we have a racism problem in this country. Can I suggest people look at the Syphilis study linked above or google the Pfizer trials in Nigeria to see why otherwise clear thinking individuals might struggle to completely trust the white establishment or pharma companies in the way others might. I agree that BAME is an unhelpful grouping and different constituents of this group will have very different uptakes.
How many of the Filipino staff are not registered with GPs, hence no NHS number?
Does the trust require staff to have email and/or internet access so they can book vaccinations?
What is the age profile of the Filipino staff, maybe 20-year-olds have decided they are at little personal risk?
Is giving p45s to unvacated staff the only way the NHS can be seen to be protecting staff? (or withholding increments)
It is essential to work with and through local leaders, cultural, religious and BAME to help people to access factual information and to make informed choices. The fact is that it is these people who many minority populations trust, much more so than the national government or NHS.
I find the post by Julian (15:06) somewhat insensitive and short sighted.
I am a Filipino working with a large acute Trust in the Northwest and I was one of the first in the Trust to have the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine. I'd like to point out critical reasons why Filipinos may not be taking up the vaccination offer :
1) In the BAME ethnic categories the NHS is using, Filipinos are not specified as an ethnic group, despite the numbers of Filipinos who have worked in the NHS since that start of the 21st century. This sends a message that if we are on the list in a basic document in the NHS or in social care, we don't exist so we don't matter.
2) I have not seen one messaging throughout the pandemic written up in Filipino. Is it presumed that English would be good enough for messaging to the Filipino community at large in England, or the UK? There is messaging in the language of the other BAME ethnic groups. Again, it sends a message that we don't matter.
3) The number of Filipino health workers who died from Covid-19 in the first peak is not accurately reported, because no ethnicity data is being captured. I agree that the number of Filipinos who died from Covid-19 is disproportionate to the number of Filipinos living in the UK, but there is disquieting talk in the community that the high death rate may be the result of the PPE fiasco, rather than having a "native" vulnerability to Covid-19. In comparison, the per capita death rate of Filipinos to Covid-19 in the Philippines is significantly less than the per capita death rate (all ethnicities including white people) here in UK. I know people would argue that monitoring may not be efficient in the Philippines, but if you factor in a 300% error, the death rate in the Philippines is still less than the UK rate.
4) So there are other factors that have lead to a disturbing high death rate among Filipino health workers in the UK, other than being part of the BAME category. I suspect some of the factors relate to structural inequalities., as well as culture and the training ethos in the Philippines.
So if the NHS wants to get more Filipino staff on board the vaccination campaign, then get messaging that will get across to Filipinos. It's taken that step for the Asian communities. Unless of course, it would be more expedient to let the status quo continue.
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