We’re really excited to be starting a short term CCG funded project to support people seeking sanctuary to access the vaccine as it rolls out across the country.  Many people seeking sanctuary are younger than 50 so we are just getting to the part of the rollout where they will be contacted.

We are aware of the inherent issues surrounding vaccine uptake, especially in communities of colour that have had a historic and often well-founded mistrust of authority and public health initiatives.

As such the goal of this work is not to ‘ensure people get the vaccine’ but to:

1 – ensure that key accurate and impartial information is easily accessible to people seeking sanctuary so they can make an informed choice regarding vaccination

2 – inform those responsible for the vaccine rollout of barriers faced by people seeking sanctuary in accessing the vaccine

3 – advocate for the removal of these barriers

Over the next 5 months, we will work with a number of community organisations and will constantly respond to the needs of people seeking sanctuary as we work towards these goals.