LONDON – Health experts, doctors and government officials in Britain are calling for a more active campaign to address the vaccine’s hesitation among minority groups, and some are also calling for these groups to become a priority for coronavirus vaccination because they ‘ have a greater risk.
The government said on Monday that it would give £ 23 million, or about $ 31 million, to local councils and other groups in England to encourage vaccines among those most at risk of the virus, including minorities, by misinformation. try to combat and build trust in the authorities.
The pandemic brought a sharp relief to the persistent racial inequalities in Britain, which played a role in the excessively high infection rates and death rates among minority groups, and deepened their distrust of the government.
Recent polls have shown that members of black, Asian and other minority groups in the country are less open to vaccination than white people are because they are concerned about the vaccine’s reliability. Britain’s drug regulator, which is seen as an agency of the clock in, said the vaccines are safe and effective.
“I know some Londoners are reluctant to receive the Covid vaccine because it comes from communities that have been abandoned by institutions in the past,” said Mayor Sadiq Khan of London. “But these vaccines are safe and effective, and I urge everyone who is invited to receive one to do so.”
The interests may be difficult for countries to address skepticism and anxiety about vaccinations. The British government is campaigning to vaccinate tens of millions of people by April as an escape route from stop-and-start exclusions and their crippling economic downturn.
Maureen Pryce, a 58-year-old former caregiver of Caribbean descent, said she stopped taking vaccinations after one of her daughters had a bad reaction. Even with family members who became ill from the virus and deaths increased in her neighborhood, she was sensible, she said.
“I do not have it. I refuse, “she said this month. “How can we trust you?” she said of the authorities. “You have a history of lying to us.”
There are deep-rooted reasons for the distrust in health care among minority groups, experts say, with a history of abuse and racism in the medical institution. For 40 years ending in 1972, doctors deliberately did not treat African-American men infected with syphilis to study the course of the disease. In Nigeria, Pfizer has agreed to a $ 35 million settlement with Kano State after 11 children were killed in a 1996 trial of an experimental meningitis drug.
And two French doctors sparked a scream last April when they suggested that Covid vaccines be tested in African countries, where people have less access to personal protective equipment.
As increasing numbers of people have received the vaccine without incident, it appears that vaccination rates in Britain are generally declining, according to a YouGov poll in January. As of Monday, about 6.5 million people in Britain, out of a population of about 67 million, had received a first dose of the vaccine.
But in a survey among 12,035 people commissioned by the government’s scientific advisory group, vaccine hesitation was higher among black Britons and in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other ethnic backgrounds.
In the city of Birmingham, for example, one health official said anecdotal evidence indicated that about half of those who were part of minority groups invited to receive vaccinations rejected it, according to the BBC.
Members of minority groups are not the only skeptics. Many are actually ‘desperate’ for a vaccine that did not come fast enough, said Halima Begum, CEO of Runnymede Trust, a London organization that advocates racial equality, adding that his two siblings are with Covid-19 had. in the hospital.
Health experts and lawmakers, however, have asked for more information on the deployment of vaccines across different ethnic backgrounds, which they say is lacking, and to improve messages about the safety of vaccines to coloreds.
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Answers to your vaccine questions
Although the exact order of vaccine recipients may vary by state, medical workers and residents of long-term care institutions are likely to be first. If you want to understand how this decision is made, this article will help.
Life will only become normal when society as a whole gets enough protection against the coronavirus. Once countries approve a vaccine, they will be able to vaccinate at most a few percent of their citizens in the first few months. The unvaccinated majority will still be vulnerable to infection. A growing number of coronavirus vaccines offer strong protection against disease. But it is also possible for people to spread the virus without even knowing they are infected, because they experience only mild symptoms or not at all. Scientists do not yet know whether the vaccination also blocks the transmission of the coronavirus. For now, even vaccinated people will have to wear masks, crowds inside, and so on. Must avoid. Once enough people are vaccinated, it will be very difficult for the coronavirus to find vulnerable people who can become infected. Depending on how quickly we as a society reach the goal, life may begin by the fall of 2021 to approach something as normal.
Yes, but not forever. The two vaccines that may be approved this month clearly protect people against Covid-19. However, the clinical trials that have yielded these results have not been designed to determine whether people who have been vaccinated can still spread the coronavirus without developing symptoms. It remains a possibility. We know that people who are naturally infected by the coronavirus can spread it while experiencing no cough or other symptoms. Researchers will study this question intensively as the vaccines begin. Meanwhile, even vaccinated people will have to think of themselves as possible distributors.
The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is delivered like a shot in the arm, like other typical vaccines. The injection will not be different from what you received before. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccinations, and none of them have reported serious health problems. But some of them felt transient discomfort, including pains and flu-like symptoms that usually last a day. It is possible that people after the second shot may be planning to take a day off from work or school. Although these experiences are not pleasant, it is a good sign: it is the result of your own immune system encountering the vaccine and getting a powerful response that will provide long-lasting immunity.
No. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use a genetic molecule to replenish the immune system. That molecule, known as mRNA, is eventually destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse with a cell so that the molecule can slide. The cell uses the mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus, which can stimulate the immune system. Each of our cells can contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules at any one time that they produce to make their own proteins. Once those proteins are made, our cells cut the mRNA with special enzymes. The mRNA molecules that make up our cells can only survive for a few minutes. The mRNA in vaccines is designed to resist the cells’ enzymes a little longer, allowing the cells to make extra viral proteins and trigger a stronger immune response. But the mRNA can only take a few days at most before being destroyed.
Opposition lawmakers have the health secretary worked, Matt Hancock, to consider adding minority groups to a priority list for vaccines, citing mortality statistics. Doctors have received some guidance from the National Health Service to prioritize ethnic minority groups if they are already eligible due to age, prof. Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said.
The Department of Health said older adults and those with underlying health conditions, including in black and ethnic minority groups, would be given preference for vaccinations.
But primary care physicians, especially those working in multi-ethnic areas, have expressed concern about vaccine skepticism.
To counteract misinformation, local officials and community leaders sent messages in various languages that the approved vaccines had been found safe and effective.
But misinformation abounds online. There are unsubstantiated claims that the vaccine is a method of population control, that it can alter the DNA of a recipient or that it contains animal products such as pork, which can cause conflict with some religious practices.
Imams are delivering sermons this month to reassure the Muslim community that the vaccine is halal and advise people to take it when offered. Doctors hold Zoom sessions to answer questions for the Sikh community.
Rhoda Ibrahim, a British and Somali community leader in London, said videos were created with Somali actors to raise awareness about testing, wearing masks and vaccinations.
Nadhim Zahawi, the Iraqi-born British minister responsible for vaccine deployment, told BBC Radio last week that he was concerned that ethnic minority groups could refuse the vaccine excessively and become infected more quickly. But he said Monday that he has worked with faith and community leaders to create awareness that vaccines are safe.
Yet many say that the British government had to invest much sooner to respond to these concerns.
Glory Nyero, a black social care and housing analyst from London, said she had become wary of the healthcare system and with the feeling that British institutions do not always understand people of color.
“Eventually I will get it if I have to,” she said of the vaccine, adding that she was concerned that her newborn could catch the virus.
“To hear that the vaccine was only tested and carried out within a year – it creates a lot of hysteria,” she said.
Critics of the government have said that in a year in which racial injustice has become a global focal point, lawmakers have not done enough to protect people of color, despite a review of data showing striking differences in coronavirus tolls tone.
“A color-blind policy hurts those most affected,” said Ms Begum of the Runnymede Trust. She says she wants urban areas, where many minority groups live, to be vaccinated first.
Part of the gap in the toll of the pandemic may be due to the long-standing differences in wealth and housing, a government review said, noting that people of color are more likely to work with greater exposure to the virus , as in health care and food. production.
They are also more likely to have health conditions such as diabetes and obesity, the review added, which increased the risk and severity of the infection, and that they are less likely to seek help when needed due to historical racism and negative experiences. with health care or at work.
Salman Waqar, a family doctor and general secretary of the British Islamic Medical Association, is among those working to persuade people to take vaccinations.
“Any community that is ignored and neglected is particularly vulnerable,” he said. “The vulnerability has now been exploited by incoming anti-vaccine messages.”
Benjamin Mueller reported.