Inside Europe’s largest Hindu temple, volunteers unmask myths and administer coronavirus vaccines

Inside Europe’s largest Hindu temple, volunteers unmask myths and administer coronavirus vaccines

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This public vaccination clinic is the passion project of Patel, set up in a school on the grounds of London’s Neasden Temple, the largest Hindu place of worship in Europe.

“Because I go to the temple, it has a special meaning to me,” said Patel, a local health care manager. “It’s about bringing the clinic to the community and the community I belong to.”

The 60-year-old mother of two belongs to the Hindu community in the borough of Brent, north-west London. Although it was one of the British neighborhoods hardest hit by Covid-19, one senior Brent council official acknowledged as early as September that authorities in the early stages of the pandemic were ‘ineffective’ with blacks, Asians and others. minority groups did not enter into discussion. that many locals feel ‘disempowered’ and marginalized.

According to the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), Brent had the highest overall age-standardized Covid-19 mortality rate of any local authority in England and Wales from 1 March to 30 June 2020.

Widespread poverty and intergenerational housing are two factors that have contributed to the rapid spread of the virus through the community, according to the Brent Council’s Poverty Commission.

Patel says as a front-line medical worker she has seen systemic inequalities persist during the vaccination of the UK.

“As far as anyone is concerned, it’s very important that you speak to them in their own language, because that’s their comfort zone,” Patel explained. “Especially in the older populations, so if we come here, we have volunteers who can translate as well.”

Patients arrive by appointment and, after a pump hand sanitizer and a quick check-in process, they are ushered into one of the 12 vaccination pods installed in the school’s drama room.

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About 35 volunteers, many of whom are members of the temple, support the operation and often switch between different languages ​​to address their mostly elderly.

“It is very empowering, especially because we are giving back to our local community. Not only members of the temple, but also members of the local community.” one of the volunteers told us, ‘It gives a real sense of community spirit and tries to help other people.’

Inside every pod is a story – a Hindu worshiper and postman eager to be vaccinated for his daily runs, an Iraqi woman who needs an Arabic translator to pass on her medical history, a couple who would like to be vaccinated so they can visit their children. in Los Angeles.

The vaccination clinic was set up in a school on the grounds of the Neasen Temple.
These are rare moments of human interaction and reunification during England’s months of exclusion.

“It’s quite emotional to see the temple and also to see all the people of the community here from the temple,” Ranjana Patel said after she was vaccinated. “When I saw Hasmita, I was very, very excited to see her. see!’

Socio-economic backwardness and entrenched inequalities in health are partly to blame for the excessive impact of Covid-19 on ethnic minority communities, but a local government report also acknowledged critical errors in outreach and messages at the outset of the pandemic .

As vaccinations are being introduced at an incredible rate in the UK, studies have shown that minority groups have higher hesitation against vaccines and have less confidence in public institutions, a powerful combination that can cost precious lives.

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Therefore, the choice of home grass, the iconic Neasden Temple, holds the deepest meaning for some of the hard-hitting Hindu families in London. Similar vaccination sites have emerged in mosques and other places of worship in the nationwide effort to immunize the population.

“It will give the local community a lot of confidence that this vaccine is safe,” said Temple spokesman Tarun Patel, “because people trust the temple and I think it will help a lot to dispel some of the misconceptions about it. the virus and the vaccine itself. ‘

The temple also has its own awareness campaign published daily in English and Gujarati to explain the latest government guidelines and misinformation spread on social media.

Patel says the videos had an impact on those who were reluctant to take the vaccine.

“Because religious leaders are explaining about the vaccination, I think the community feels more comforted,” she said.

Local champions like Patel have vowed to fight for their own, where other public leaders seem to have let minority communities down.

By giving her community the opportunity to lead locally to the most important health project of our time and to improve Britain’s largest vaccination program in history, Patel hopes to counteract structural inequalities.

“I am very proud of this clinic and not only because it is a clinic that is so successful, but also because we are right across from the temple,” Patel said.

“Every day, when I come in, I can view the temple and I feel satisfied that I am in my community and that I serve the community.”

Nada Bashir and Li-Lian Ahlskog Hou reported.

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