Vaccine misinformation within Muslim communities, including a false belief that the new Covid-19 jab contains animal products, could undermine efforts to immunise the public, a leading doctor has warned.
As the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine continues, Salman Waqar, from the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA), told the PA news agency that immunisation programmes have often seen low take-up among Muslims.
This is in part because, until this year, in England and Wales flu and childhood immunisation vaccines did not allow the option of a jab that did not contain pork gelatine.
(Salman Waqar/PA)
Dr Waqar, who works as a GP in Berkshire and academic researcher at Oxford University, said misunderstandings around the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which does not contain any animal products have been caused in part by poor communication from public health bodies.
Vaccine misinformation within Muslim communities, including a false belief that the new Covid-19 jab contains animal products, could undermine efforts to immunise the public, a leading doctor has warned.
As the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine continues, Salman Waqar, from the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA), told the PA news agency that immunisation programmes have often seen low take-up among Muslims.
This is in part because, until this year, in England and Wales flu and childhood immunisation vaccines did not allow the option of a jab that did not contain pork gelatine.
(Salman Waqar/PA)
Dr Waqar, who works as a GP in Berkshire and academic researcher at Oxford University, said misunderstandings around the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which does not contain any animal products have been caused in part by poor communication from public health bodies.
False claims vaccine is not halal ‘could hinder immunisation efforts’
Top Story
December 15, 2020
LONDON: Vaccine misinformation within Muslim communities, including a false belief that the Covid-19 jab is not halal, could undermine efforts to immunise the public, a leading doctor has warned.
As the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine continues, Salman Waqar, from the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA), told the PA news agency that immunisation programmes have often seen low take-up among Muslims.
This is in part because, until this year, in England and Wales flu and childhood immunisation vaccines did not allow the option of a jab that did not contain pork gelatine.Dr Waqar, who works as a GP in Berkshire and academic researcher at Oxford University, said misunderstandings around the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which does not contain any animal products have been caused in part by poor communication from public health bodies.