Three members of staff from West Midlands Fire Service are encouraging people who are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds to get the COVID-19 vaccination.

Samantha Samuels, Saty Nar and Marvin Karim feature in a video shared today on social media in the hope it will give others the reassurance that the vaccine is safe and effective.

While firefighter Marvin talks about his own initial hesitations and what led to him changing his mind, Saty who works in Fire Safety goes on to talk about the importance of carrying out research from trusted sources and trying not to fall victim to conspiracy theories. Samantha then rounds the video off with a final message of encouragement, noting how she wants to be able to interact with the people of the West Midlands again.

Station Commander Samantha Samuels, who leads WMFS’s Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic group ‘Inspire’, said:

“As a fire service our priority is to serve our communities, ensuring those who live and work in the West Midlands remain safe and well. We have all seen stories in the news and on social media around vaccine hesitancy and a belief amongst some that it may be unnecessary, ineffective, or unsafe.

“We can see the negative impact COVID is continuing to have on society, and we all want to go back to some semblance of normality. I am currently supporting my mother in getting her vaccine, simply because I want her to live as long and as healthy a life as possible.

“I hope this video helps in some way in encouraging others to have the vaccine. I have personally had my vaccine and am proud to be playing my part in the continued fight against COVID-19.”

A poll carried out by the Royal Society for Public Health in December 2020 found that 76% of the UK population was willing to have a COVID-19 vaccine if advised to do so by their GP or other health professional – but among people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, this fell to just 57%. (source: gponline.com).