A NEW creative initiative has been launched to encourage take-up of Covid-19 vaccines among youngsters.

It comes as a leading NHS official for Bradford district and Craven revealed an increasing amount of unvaccinated young people are appearing in hospital with the potentially deadly virus.

Naureen Hafiz has been working with The Leap and the NHS Covid vaccination programme for Bradford district and Craven to create a series of eye-catching comic strip graphics, which have been unveiled this week.

The comics tell the tales of five young people who have been vaccinated over recent weeks.

The stories show how people aged under 30 have had different reasons to get vaccinated and that there are those who have had to overcome some initial hesitancy.

One of the graphics features Vanessa, 27, who got the first jab after her mum passed away from the virus.

She was then reluctant to get the second dose after news about the vaccine made her feel worried.

But Vanessa - who has underlying health conditions - conducted her own research and realised, "I'd rather be safe".

The other stories include a brother and sister who wanted to be vaccinated so they could feel safer visiting their grandma and a young woman from Indonesia looking forward to a trip back to see her family.

Nancy O’Neill, NHS co-lead for the vaccination programme across Bradford district and Craven, said: “We are really impressed with the work Naureen has done and want to thank the young people who have bravely shared their very personal stories in an effort to get others to come forward and get vaccinated.

"This devastating virus continues to have an impact on our lives and figures show that we are seeing an increasing number of younger, unvaccinated people in hospital with Covid-19.

"We know that some people will have previously been hesitant and may now want to have the vaccine.

"It’s perfectly okay to change your mind, come along to our walk-in clinics – you won’t need to book and we have clinics across our district.”

The comics are being shared among young people through a collaboration of Bradford Council's Young Covid Ambassadors, The Leap's young people's network and other district-wide partners.

The aim is to encourage uptake and dispel myths and all the graphics remind people that it is really easy to "Grab a Jab".

This can be done by going along to one of the district’s walk-in clinics, without the need for an appointment.

Naureen Hafeez, the artist behind the graphics, said: “It has been a real pleasure working on this project.

"Listening and understanding the process people went through before they got their vaccine was important to me as was the need to ensure I accurately reflected these deeply personal stories.

"I have really welcomed the feedback we’ve received from young people before I finalised the design which means they reflect the needs of those who we want to reach.

"After hearing these stories I really want to remind people that we have to do this for ourselves, our families and our friends.”

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, commented: “This is another example of how we have used a number of creative routes to get key messages out to our communities.

"Our approach throughout the pandemic has been recognised nationally, including by Professor Chris Whitty during a Downing Street briefing, and we continue to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to help our communities.

"The vaccine is our greatest hope and I hope these stories motivate people to get protected.”

Anyone wanting to ‘Grab a Jab’ without booking an appointment can get along to a walk-in clinic with many open across the district – from The Broadway Shopping Centre, Bradford College through to Airedale Hospital and Silsden Medical Practice – opening times can be found online http://bit.ly/VaccineWalkInClinic.

For those wanting to book ahead they can do so by calling the NHS national booking service on 119 or going to the website www.nhs.uk/CovidVaccination