Addressing lack of vaccine confidence in ethnic minorities

Evidence is only a small part of changing practice. A relatively recent reminder of this truism was our effort to convince colleagues across the UK to use ‘atraumatic’ instead of old school ‘cutting’ needles for lumbar punctures (LP) given the former have far fewer adverse effects than the latter, mainly of so-called ‘post-LP headache syndrome’. Although we confirmed what others demonstrated before, people in the UK undergoing LP are still far more likely to be ‘stabbed’ with an old school needle rather than an atraumatic one.

Now, whilst with LP, it’s ‘only’ about buy-in from our colleagues changing their ways (for people undergoing LP it’s a simple choice – take the less painful option!), having confidence in the SARS-CoV2 vaccination is an altogether different ballgame. Here’s an infographic by the NHS Race and Health Observatory about how to engage with people from ethnic minorities to prevent or address a lack of confidence in these new vaccines. Given time is of the essence it’s an uphill struggle, but this is what they suggest could be done to protect more people from ethnic minorities to develop and die from COVID-19:

@KlausSchmierer