NHS trust makes video bid to encourage BAME community to have Covid-19 vaccine
An NHS trust on Teesside has released a series of videos to encourage people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities to get the Covid-19 vaccine when they are offered it.
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has posted the videos, which are in a variety of languages, on YouTube.
They contain members of the trust’s pharmacy and medical teams who aim to break down barriers and directly explain the safety of the vaccine.
Across the UK there are concerns about the low up-take of the jab in these communities, particularly as BAME people have a greater risk of serious illness as a result of the virus.
Medical director Deepak Dwarakanath said:
He added:
Associate chief pharmacist for operations Umair Hamid, spoke English in his video.
Pharmacist Esther Cheung, who is originally from Hong Kong, recorded her contribution in Cantonese.
She said:
Other videos have been recorded in Arabic and Mandarin. Urdu and Punjabi videos are also being produced.
The trust is also appealing for members of the BAME community to record and share their own social media videos encouraging their peers to get the vaccine when offered.
All the videos can be viewed on YouTube and will be shared via the trust's social media pages. The trust has asked the public to share the videos and directly show them to people within their households or support bubbles who would directly benefit from seeing them.