On 9th June 6pm– 7pm, Unity in the Community will host the first of 3 sessions focussing on vaccine hesitancy in the BAME community.
With the dire need for vaccine, and the hesitancy of the BAME community, Unity in the Community (UITC) would like to gain further insight, with a solutions-based approach to capture any perceived barriers, mistrusts, and general miss information surrounding the current COVID-19 vaccines, available to the general public.
In a UK survey in December 2020, vaccine hesitancy was highest among black (odds ratio 12.96, 95% confidence interval 7.34 to 22.89), Bangladeshi, and Pakistani (both 2.31, 1.55 to 3.44) populations compared with people from a white ethnic background.
Even more worryingly, data up to 15 January 2021 show substantially lower rates of covid-19 vaccinations among over 80s in ethnic minority (white people 42.5%, black people 20.5%) and deprived communities (least deprived 44.7%, most deprived 37.9%) in England.
Similarly, data from an NHS trust show lower covid-19 vaccination rates among ethnic minority healthcare workers (70.9% in white workers v 58.5% in South Asian and 36.8% in black workers.
The project will delve into the root causes of vaccine hesitancy within the Nottingham BAME community, providing reliable information, education and safety awareness, building trust within the system and motivating the community to make informed choices regarding the vaccine.
The project will provide an open dialogue for citizens, community leaders and professionals to engage in, using virtual zoom sessions to spark debates and addressing key issues within the BAME community; conducting online surveys to understand the problem, explore tools required to start building trust with central government and health care system to build mutual understanding.
This first session and further sessions are funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for “good causes”.
Since 2004 it has awarded over £9 billion to more than 130,000 projects in the UK, The National Lottery Community Fund distributes over £600m a year to communities across the UK, raised by players of The National Lottery.
Devontay Okure director of Unity in the Community would like to thank the National Lottery Community Fund for supporting this ground-breaking community project, and for making the communities voice heard and celebrating our diversity and shared values.
Unity in the Community was founded following the murder of George Floyd and the resulting global outcry surrounding systemic and institutional racism, that still exists in society today. Which deeply affects black people’s ability to survive and prosper in the global economy, participate in mainstream society and positively engage on an equal playing field.
Our goal is to provide a respected and credible voice to articulate the needs of every person in black and BAME communities in the UK. We will drive development, create opportunities and influence positive change by acting as an infrastructure body to provide accessible programmes that facilitate long-term and sustainable progress for black and BAME communities.
Find out more and register to attend the Zoom session – Insight here EVENTBRITE
After registering please complete a quick questionnaire for the project, so we can capture as much insight on this topic to drive the conversation.
We hope you can all be part of this ground-breaking event and share the webinar (Link) with as many people as possible!
Team Community… putting the community at the heart of everything we do!