50 13 February 2021 | The Guardian Weekend
Back Romesh Ranganathan
Scenes from a midlife crisis
When even my key-worker mother sta r ted to question the vacc ine, I had to ac t
While the general uptake of the coronavirus
vaccine has been great in the UK, with 76% of the
general population saying they would take the jab
when off ered it, this fi gure drops to 57% in the
imperfectly named BAME communities – and
to 55% in Asian communities specifi cally. I have
to confess to fi nding this frustrating and sad. In
a world in which there are already enough degrees of separation
enforced on people of colour, this willingness to add another is
incredibly upsetting.
I recently participated in a video organised by the actor
Adil Ray, in which we tired to dispel some of the myths about
the vaccine . But while the response was overwhelmingly
positive, there were people who kicked back : they said it was
patronising – how was a video made by a bunch of celebrities
going to make people suddenly decide to have the vaccine?
There were even suggestions that we had been paid to support a
government agenda.
First , I wasn’t paid, and if the others were, I would
appreciate it if they could let me know, as I need to have a
word with Adil. Second , I do agree with those sentiments : I, too,
understand that it seems fanciful to think that watching me or any
of the others talk about the vaccine is going to make anyone
more inclined to take it.
The truth is , I don’t know what else to do. I know from speaking
to my mother, who is a key worker alongside a workforce
consisting of a high proportion of ethnic minorities, that
there are loads of conversations about potential side-eff ects ,
its ingredients , and whether it can be trusted. She started to
express doubts, so I talked her through those, and managedto convince her that having the vaccine was the lowest-risk
option. I realise that people are distrustful of the government
(and if you are from an ethnic or impoverished background, then it
is understandable why ) ; but the other option is to contract the
virus, which is easily the wors t one.
There are people who may believe that this is a scheme
by the government to tag you, or poison you, or keep tabs on
you. My immediate counter argument would be to point out
the level of competence the government has shown when
organising things openly ; the idea that it would be capable
of putting something together that would require that level
of forethought and sophistication seems improbable. There
may be others who believe that the whole thing is a hoax, in
order to instil fear as a control mechanism. I would love to hear
more on this, so please contact me to elaborate at Romesh@
ithinkyouareatinfoilhatwearingweirdo.com.
The administering of vaccines has actually gone quite well,
in a way that has surprised everyone (probably including
the government ) and it would be a shame if people from
ethnic minority backgrounds excluded themselves from
being part of it. I completely understand the cynicism towards
actors and comedians off ering their view: why the hell
should anyone listen to medical advice from someone in
the public eye? (Although some people still seem happy
to consider themselves highly educated on a subject just
because they spent an evening looking at some internet
forums .) I n response, I would say that I’m only telling you
what I told my mum, and she said she almost defi nitely
trusts me,. Just not as much as if I’d become the doctor she
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