BBC documentary on vaccine hesitancy features St George’s experts
St George’s, University of London and St George’s Hospital features in a BBC Two documentary, Unvaccinated, looking at vaccine hesitancy this week.
In the documentary presenter Professor Hannah Fry, a mathematician who worked on providing Covid-19 data during the pandemic, brings together seven unvaccinated members of the public to explore why they don’t want to have the vaccine. During this journey they will hear from range of experts to discuss their concerns and is filmed, in part, at St George’s – both the university and hospital.
One of these experts is Professor Asma Khalil, Consultant Obstetrician and Professor of Maternal Fetal Medicine. Dr Khalil met with two people as part of the programme who were concerned about female fertility and having the vaccine while pregnant.
Professor Khalil is the lead author on a recent research paper that shows that Covid-19 vaccination in pregnancy is 90% effective against Covid-19 infection and is safe, with no increased risk in adverse outcomes for women or their babies. The research also showed that having the vaccination during pregnancy using mRNA vaccines is associated with a 15% reduction in stillbirths.
Participants also met other experts from the St George’s Vaccine Institute including Director of the Vaccine Institute Professor Paul Heath, senior research fellow Dr Eva Galiza and senior research nurse Jenny Pearce who discussed various aspects of vaccine clinical trials with them.
At the end of the programme, the group visits St George’s to see if the advice they have received has changed their opinion on the vaccine and if they would subsequently like to have it.
The programme aired on Wednesday 20 July at 9pm on BBC Two and can be viewed on BBC iPlayer.
