This week's MP's column comes from Naz Shah, Labour MP for Bradford West​

WE have been living with Covid for almost a year and on March 23, we will mark one year since the first national lockdown and one year of living a new normal.

We have lost many loved ones, adapted our way of life and have had to endure living through a radically different set of circumstances. Whilst some parts of the country breathed a short sigh of relief towards the end of last summer, Bradford however, has been in higher localised restrictions, and now in a national lockdown for 208 days. 

It has been a challenging year for us all, but constituents have switched from speaking to me about their understandable fears about the virus, to sharing their relief that a vaccine is a way back to normality. Business owners also see the vaccine as a light at the end of what seems like a very long tunnel, so they can return to business as usual and have the chance to rebuild their livelihoods and communities. 

In Bradford West we have; BRI, Jacob’s Well’s Vaccine Centre, Rimmington’s Pharmacy and more recently, the Bradford Central Mosque, playing their role in vaccinating the district. It is encouraging to see that the latest figures show an average uptake rate of 92 per cent across the first two priority groups, the over 80s and 75-79s in the Bradford district (as of February 8). 

There has, however, been some concern on a national level over the lower uptake rates amongst BAME communities. 

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) carried out a survey which, found that vaccine hesitancy was highest amongst Black respondents, with 72 per cent saying they were unlikely/very unlikely to get the jab. While Pakistani and Bangladeshi respondents had the second highest hesitancy rate at 42 per cent. Trust, risk and low confidence have been cited as reasons for not wanting to have the jab.

When it comes to trust, decades of institutional racism, health inequalities and neglect by the Government, towards Black, Asian and minority communities have over time had a huge impact. 

Sometimes, it is easy to ignore issues of racism and neglect in Whitehall and Downing Street and act like everything is fine. But when communities feel their voices are neglected and are not heard, the impact over time turns into a visible break down in trust. Ministers must now work to move heaven on earth, to try and rebuild trust, to ensure we don’t hamper our efforts to vaccinate the entire nation- the only practical way out of this pandemic.

Only last week, a new tool kit produced by Oxford University stated that ethnicity and deprivation are to be included as risk factors for potential severe outbreaks of Covid. These risk factors inform the Government’s reactiveness and modelling to the virus. This inclusion has led to a further two million people being advised to shield and 800,000 being fast-tracked for vaccines across England. 

This adds weight to those, including myself, think tanks such as the Runnymede Trust and the British Medical Association, who have long argued for action to be taken to better protect BAME and deprived communities. But with the greater risk, it also highlights why there is a greater need for BAME communities to be involved in the vaccination process.

I, myself have taken part in the Novavax trials conducted in Bradford and I have worked with local stakeholders to tackle the fake news being shared on vaccinations.  I have called out the Government when its own criteria for setting up vaccine centres ignored the disproportionate risk to BAME and inner-city communities.

I wish to thank and recognise the work done by local groups, such as Bradford’s own Council for Mosques, who have worked with GPs and health professionals, to put worried minds at ease and have worked to eradicate the fake news surrounding vaccinations.

The inclusion of Bradford Central Mosque as a vaccine centre, I hope, will provide reassurance and help spread positive, factual messages to the wider community. 
It is difficult for politicians to rebuild the trust lost over decades in a matter of weeks and months, but my message to those that may have some concerns, is that I am also a daughter of this city, I share some of your concerns on institutional racism, health inequalities and the large-scale neglect shown by Government.

I often raise these concerns in Parliament and challenge the Government on the issues mentioned above. Yet, when it comes to the vaccine, I have taken part in the trials, and I say to you, please do trust your local NHS staff, GPs, pharmacists, community and faith leaders, and lets us all, through testing and the vaccines, find our route back to normality. 
 

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