There is growing concern that people of South Asian backgrounds are reluctant to accept the Covid-19 vaccine. Research from the Royal Society for Public Health suggests that 76% of the UK public would take the vaccine if they were advised to do so. However, that number fell to 57% amongst people from BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) backgrounds.
Dr Harpreet Sood, leader of an NHS anti-disinformation drive, states that the fake news associated with Covid-19 is “a big concern,” and officials are working hard “to correct so much fake news“.
Much of the fake news spread about the vaccine is down to cultural and language barriers. These barriers can prevent information from being communicated accurately and effectively.
What kind of misconceptions are circulating?
The misconception that the contents of the vaccine are harmful or an infringement of religious or cultural beliefs.
A lot of the myths surrounding the vaccine stem from concerns about the contents of the vaccine. There is fear around the vaccine containing harmful substances. Furthermore, there is worry that the vaccine contains content which infringes on people’s religious or cultural beliefs, such as pork.
The myth that the vaccine contains a microchip.
One rumour which is discouraging the vaccine take-up is the idea that the Covid vaccine contains a tracker, designed for the purpose of tracking a person’s whereabouts.
Worrying statistics.
Arguably, concern over the safety of the vaccine has stemmed from statistics demonstrating that deaths from Covid-19 were higher among people of black and Asian ethnic groups.
Adil Ray told BBC Radio Leicester that “For the British Asian and black communities, at the very beginning of the pandemic we were told they were perhaps the most vulnerable.” These statistics cause concern in the BAME community.
What is being done?
NHS
Dr Sood, from NHS England, stated that “We need to be clear and make people realise there is no meat in the vaccine, there is no pork in the vaccine.” Eating pork is forbidden in Islam; fake news suggesting the vaccines contain pork has discouraged uptake. Sood stated that the vaccine “has been accepted and endorsed by all the religious leaders and councils and faith communities.”
He continued by saying that the NHS is working hard to translate necessary information so it is received effectively by those who need it.
Religious communities
Religious communities are working to dispel concerns about the vaccine. These faith communities hope to inspire confidence among minority communities. Many mosques across the UK are using their Friday sermons to promote the importance of getting the vaccine. Fears about vaccine uptake among the Asian community has led the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board to urge places of worship, such as mosques, to be used as vaccination centres in an attempt to reassure those who are doubtful and to encourage uptake.
The Government
The Government has announced that it will provide 23 million pounds of funding into a ‘Community Network of Champions.’ The funding will be allocated to 60 councils and allocated groups across England to encourage vaccine uptake and support those most at risk. Through the Community Champions scheme, both councils and voluntary organisations will work in numerous ways to support at risk groups. One measure will be building trust and communicating accurate health information. This is done in a bid to spread awareness and save lives.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick recently visited the UK’s first mosque vaccination centre. He stated “It is absolutely brilliant to see faith communities like this stepping up and playing their part in the vaccine programme.”
What are media organisations doing to prevent the spread of fake news?
In an attempt to correct stigmas and fake news about the vaccine, officials have been working with South Asian role models, influencers, community leaders and religious leaders. In January, many British Asian Celebrities, including comedian Meera Syal, cricketer Mooen Ali, and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, participated in a video created to urge people to get the Covid vaccine. The coordinator of the video was Adil Ray, who stated that he “wanted to dispel vaccination myths for those from ethnic minority communities.”
The UK Vaccine Taskforce worked with the BBC in December to present a Covid-19 vaccine Q&A session which was translated into five South Asian languages; Gujarati, Pujnabi, Sylheti, Tamil and Urdu.
Recently, Facebook has announced that it will be cracking down on the posting of misinformation about all forms of vaccines in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-related fake news on social media.
Despite efforts to utilise the media to debug misconceptions about the vaccine, there is still fake news circulating. Social media is a hotspot for Covid-related fake news. Social media platforms such as Whatsapp and Facebook provide unrestricted access to Covid fake news.
It can be hoped that these efforts to boost vaccine uptake will be successful over the coming months.
Jessamie Rattray
Twitter and Instagram: @jessamierattray
Feature image courtesy of Steven Cornfield on Unsplash. Image license is available here. No changes were made to this image.
