JAVID URGES ASIANS TO GET VACCINATED
Four in 10 British Pakistanis not protected,
HEALTH secretary Sajid Javid has told Eastern Eye he is “very concerned” that three in 10 Asians remained unprotected against Covid.
Among British Pakistanis, the take up of the vaccine at the end of August was 55 per cent, Public Health England (PHE) data showed.
“I’m very concerned,” Javid said. “We know vaccines work and overall [Britain] has been a leader in vaccine uptake, but it’s been uneven.”
During a meeting of specially invited non-white press and broadcasters, Javid said, “Nationally, the uptake is around over 80 per cent for a double dose.
“In the British Indian community [it] is about 70 per cent; in the British Pakistani community, it’s about 55 per cent. It’s improved a lot in the last couple of months, but I want to certainly encourage more people to take up the offer of a vaccine.
“If you’re eligible, please take it because we know that it saves lives when it protects those people around you, not just those who are taking the vaccine.”
Javid also paid tribute to the hard work of NHS staff, but he knows that the government is not getting its message to vaccinate through to some minority communities.
“Black minority ethnic communities represent roughly about 14 per cent of the population, but they represented a third of critical care admissions to do with Covid,” he said.
“That one number encapsulates the disproportionate impact it had on those communities.
“There’s been the amazing vaccination programme that we’ve had, but when you look at the people who haven’t been vaccinated, we estimate that’s about 5.3 million people in the UK who have not yet taken up their offer of vaccination.
“That’s a huge number, and when you dive deeper into that, a disproportionate number of those who haven’t taken it up are from black minority ethnic communities, and also younger people as well.”
That is why the health secretary set up a meeting with ethnic minority journalists and publications to discuss ways to reach Asian and black communities.
When Javid asked why the government was failing to engage some minority groups, journalists responded that some Asian and black communities did not trust the administration.
It was a message reinforced by Dr Chaand Nagpaul of the British Medical Association (BMA).
The chair of the doctors’ union told Eastern Eye, “It’s really important to recognise that Sajid Javid is the first ethnic minority secretary of state for health and social care.
“That gives him an incredible opportunity to demonstrate that he understands the issues affecting our ethnic minority population, as it relates to health, as well as the ethnic minority workforce.
“But you know, the low uptake of vaccines is very much related to the level of trust communities have in higher level messaging.
“That’s why I think it’s so important that his first [message] must be to say that I can be trusted. And you demonstrate trust by being very open and clear about the issues that affect everyone.”
Nagpaul called on the health secretary to be clear that some of Britain’s health inequalities were caused by racism.
“One of the real important points he needs to make is that he recognises society is afflicted with racism, it is afflicted with inequalities,” he said.
“The sad fact is that the government at large is not using this language, it’s not being open and clear about these inequalities.
“It is using words like disparities, rather than inequalities, that doesn’t really mean a lot to the lay person. It has produced reports that even deny that structural racism exists.
“I think it’s so important to be open about these things. Because by acknowledging it, by being open, you can then show that you are determined to change, people can then trust you.”
Journalists also told Javid that the government’s messaging was mixed and contradictory.
It is a view that is shared by doctors’ leaders.
“The government is pushing, rightly, the public to take up the vaccine. It’s doing so because it knows Covid is still out there as a real virus circulating at high levels,” said Nagpaul.
“On the other hand, if it tells the population that you don’t need to be taking any precautions to stop spreading the infection, you don’t need to wear masks, you don’t need to be [socially] distanced, you don’t have to have ventilation, it does send a mixed message.
“It wouldn’t take a lot to be like many other European nations, which is to have simple requirements – that when you’re in a taxi, whether you’re on public transport, or whether you’re in an enclosed surrounding, like a shop, that in fact, people should pay attention to wearing masks to prevent spread from one person to the other.”
The health secretary has rejected the idea of making the wearing of face masks mandatory.
“We listen to a lot of different voices, and it won’t surprise you that not everyone agrees on what are the best measures to take,” said Javid.
“But I will tell you one thing everyone agrees on, whether it’s the BMA, scientific advisors, numerous other organisations, and that is the power of the vaccine.
“The vaccine works. It is saving lives, at 25 million fewer infections because of the vaccines.
“There are 200,000 or fewer people in hospital because of the vaccines, 126,000 fewer deaths, because of the vaccines, and that really has got to be our central message. That is our way to some point in the future to say goodbye to this pandemic forever.”
Journalists also questioned whether the government was targeting the right people among non-white communities.
“One thing that I’ve got a bit of a bug bear about is how the media talk about ‘community leaders’,” said one south Asian reporter.
“As a younger British Asian, I’ve never followed a community leader. Maybe my parents have those leaders, but with younger British Asians, we don’t have the same trusted figures as our parents do.
“So, who are these people actually being influenced by? Is it social media influencers? Is that who you need to be partnering up with and reaching?
“Maybe you need a slightly different approach with the younger ethnic minorities.”
Javid said the government was using social media, and that he was keen to look at different ways to get the government’s messages to minority communities.
But he was scathing about some social media influencers, such as popstar Nicki Minaj, and what he called her “ridiculous tweet”. The rapper tweeted the vaccine caused impotence.
“Obviously, there is sadly, a lot of misinformation out there,” the health secretary said.
“Nicki Minaj said really nonsense things about the vaccine, and when I was doing media the next day, I was getting asked about that.
“When I finished the interviews, some people said to me, ‘why don’t you condemn her?’
“That’s what she wants, right? And I don’t actually want to give her what she wants. I don’t want to draw traffic to this bad message she’s sending out.
“So, we’re always trying to find what’s the best way to deal with situations like that.”