It has been widely and regularly publicised that Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities have disproportionately suffered from Covid-19 and seen a higher rate of deaths. Also, for some time now, we have been witnessing regular mutterings and a range of reporting that BAME communities are less likely to take up a Covid-19 vaccination.
Is the BAME community now becoming less of an urgency and priority in terms of ensuring effective and appropriate messaging and understanding regarding their safety and protection against Covid-19?
This is not surprising judging by the amount of misinformation, myths, and untruths about the vaccine that have been, and continue to be, banded around so freely within our communities, particularly via a host of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp to name but a few. Equally worrying is how many people, as recipients or even as conveyors of such information, do actually stop to think and question the origin of it all.
- How reliable is the information?
- Is it from a tried and trusted source, such as government or health organisations, peer-reviewed scientific journals etc.?
- Is it simply hearsay from various parts of the world as well as the UK, which has been passed round millions of times hailing high a few meaningless straplines?
No doubt many of you like me may be regular and daily recipients of an array of misleading and non-evidenced based Covid-19 information, and I strongly urge everyone to think twice what Covid-19 health messages are shared and how reliable, factual and trustworthy they all are. This can be hugely damaging in the wider scheme of the health of the public, and even lead to impeding the progress and speed at which we are able to curb this pandemic.
We are all now aware of the unpredictability of Covid-19, made more apparent with the new variants now permeating at pace through the country with increased rates of transmission of the virus. It is therefore crucial to emphasise and understand more about the Covid-19 vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford Astra Zeneca, and Moderna).
The vaccines have been proven worldwide to be highly effective, having been rigorously tested in tens of thousands of people and now well on the way to giving everyone real hope and genuine belief of restoring life to some normality very soon. In the UK they have been approved by one of the world’s gold standard regulatory authorities, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). There is no room for cutting corners or compromising any standards and regulatory processes in the licensing of these vaccines. A collection of robust evidence from clinical trials together with in-depth advice and analyses from some of the world’s leading scientists, have all culminated in ensuring the approved vaccines are: Safe, High quality and Effective.
The MHRA’s role and responsibility is to protect and improve public health through scientific research and development.
Whilst the vaccine has brought the brightest of illuminations at the end of this long Covid-19 tunnel, it is by no means the silver bullet – on its own! In the large majority of cases it will help protect people from getting the virus. However, to add further safety assurance it is still important to continue wearing masks (where possible), keeping distance, and washing hands regularly with soap and water, testing and isolating where necessary. There is no outright evidence to indicate that those vaccinated cannot pass on to others if ever infected with the virus.
Crucially, it is important to understand that the vaccines themselves do not contain any live virus. This means one cannot get Covid-19 from the vaccine itself.
The UK’s biggest vaccine roll–out in history is now well on its way, and very soon through many community pharmacies and your turn to be vaccinated will come! Don’t refuse it!
