No quick fix for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among UK South Asian communities, researchers say

According to a new study published JRSM Open.

Researchers from Imperial College London and City University London surveyed patients and healthcare professionals to explore South Asians’ views on COVID-19 vaccineincluding their decision to vaccinate or not.

Dr. Raj Chandok, lead author of the study and a general practitioner based in Southall, London, said: “Prior to COVID-19, all our participants’ relationship with vaccines appeared to be easy and unproblematic. However, with COVID-19, it was clear from the start , that their concerns and hesitations are specific to these vaccines.”

A key finding of the study was that a lack of trust operated at multiple levels in maintaining vaccine hesitancy, with a lack of trust in health authorities, government and various media platforms present among the majority of participants.

Researchers say that commentators’ overemphasis on the terms false and misinformation encourages either/or scenarios where people are in binary opposition; those who consume (correct) information and those who remain misinformed.

“This leaves very little room for the notion that there may be people who are neither for nor against vaccines against COVID-19, but instead question many of the so-called indisputable ‘truths’ — and thus not only one truth such as the safety of vaccines against COVID-19,” said Dr. Chandok.

They say any dialogue about the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine will be incomplete without acknowledging the Rashomon effect, a term used in film, science and law that refers to the themes of fractured truth, subjective reality and unreliable sources that may characterize postmodern world.

The researchers also say that an overemphasis on ethnicity can be stigmatizing. “It is worth considering how certain psychographic characteristics, such as interests, attitudes and lifestyle, may also contribute to vaccine hesitancy and skepticism among South Asian communities,” added Dr. Chandok.