BRADFORD Central Mosque has opened its doors today as a community Covid-19 vaccination centre.

It marks the beginning of a major initiative where Bradford Council for Mosques is teaming up with local GPs to accelerate and increase take-up of the vaccine as an essential preventative measure against the virus.

It's hoped the initiative will help to increase confidence in the vaccine across the city, encouraging people to go for the jab in ever-increasing numbers.

Dr Waheed Hussain, GP at Clarendon Medical Centre and chair of City Health GP Federation said: “Having a vaccination hub in the mosque will, I think, give confidence to people particularly from the BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) community that the vaccine is safe to take and will protect individuals and their families. 

"We are collectively trying to improve access and make it easier for people to be vaccinated. I would encourage all eligible people to take up the offer of a Covid-19 vaccination when they’re contacted.”

Sadia Kauser, who is a care worker, added: “At first I wasn’t sure about it because there are so many stories going round. But after talking to colleagues and hearing the facts from my GP I feel confident that it’s the right thing to do. Now I’ve had the vaccine I feel protected and hope that lots of people have the vaccine so we can stop this virus and get back to normal.”

Meanwhile, the leader of the West Yorkshire Vaccination programme has paid tribute to the fantastic efforts of GPs, pharmacists and NHS staff, which have seen over half a million of the region’s adults vaccinated. 

The latest figures show that 531,052 people have now been vaccinated, which is approximately a quarter of the adult population in West Yorkshire. 

Dr Phil Wood, who heads the region’s programme, said he was delighted so many of those at greatest risk from Covid-19 had now been given a first dose of the vaccine and that this was a “remarkable achievement”. 

“We have been working round the clock to get people in West Yorkshire vaccinated as quickly as possible and the success of this is clear when you see how many people we have managed to vaccinate in just 10 weeks," he said.

"This really is a remarkable achievement, particularly when NHS colleagues have also been dealing with such high levels of Covid-19 patients requiring hospital care. We are also very grateful to our partners in the local authorities and voluntary sector who have been supporting the vaccination programme and helping us to ensure as many people as possible are protected.” 

Dr Wood said the rollout is continuing at pace across West Yorkshire. Vaccinations are now being offered to people in the next cohorts  - over 65s and people aged 16 and over with underlying health conditions and carers.

Eligible people will be contacted by their GP practice or the national booking system when it is their turn and are asked not to contact the NHS for an appointment 

Dr Wood added: “Please can we ask people not to contact their GP practice for an appointment, unless they are over 70 or registered as extremely clinically vulnerable. Everyone else should wait to be contacted – services are extremely busy and GP practices will not be able to book vaccination appointments unless you have been contacted by the NHS.  

“We are also asking people to attend for their booked appointments at exactly the time they’re asked to, so that we can avoid queues in this cold weather, and to continue to follow all the guidance in place to control the virus. This is important even if you’ve had the vaccine as you may still be able to spread the disease so please think of others and do your bit to help save lives.”