Politics & Current Affairs

Black MPs tackle vaccine hesitancy

16 February 202125 February 2021By
Black MPs tackle vaccine hesitancy

After the pandemic highlighted deep inequalities in UK health, Black MPs are tackling the issue with an encouraging video.

Throughout the pandemic, ethnic minorities have been disproportionately affected by the virus. The issue mainly lies in the degree of vaccine hesitancy. From misinformation circulating on Whatsapp, to feeling unsafe in the hands of medical professionals, older black people in particular are reluctant to get the COVID-19 jab. Black MPs are trying to change this.

They have united in creating a video to encourage and confirm the safety of the vaccine. The clip, posted by Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi on Twitter, features Labour MP for Brent Central Dawn Butler, Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng, Former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott and more.

But even amongst MPs, there’s been a degree of resistance to club together. Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch – who chose not to participate in the video – took to Twitter to attack HuffPost journalist Nadine White for requesting her reason for not getting involved.

In many ways, the eight-tweet thread, posted by Badenoch on 29th January, overshadowed the cross-party message which the other MPs were trying to get across. Instead of discussing the importance of vaccination in some of the most vulnerable members of the UK’s black communities, there was a shift towards engaging with Badenoch’s controversial tweets, branding White as “creepy and bizarre”.

With a recent study revealing up to 72% of black people said they were unlikely to have the jab, the efforts of the MPs video could have a tremendous impact to sway those uncertain of the vaccine to trust in the science. But beyond the pandemic, the issue of black people not feeling heard in the healthcare sector remains unaddressed.