LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2021) The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, encouraged on Monday people from ethnic minority communities in the UK to take the COVID-19 vaccine, saying that it is safe, effective and that it has been thoroughly tested to meet the highest standards.
"Today, those doctors and scientists have found us a way forward. A Covid vaccine that is safe and will help to save lives," Khan said in a video recorded independently from the government featuring people from different ethnic minorities living in London.
After posting the video on his Twitter account, the British-born Labour politician, who is of Pakistani ethnicity, said that when their turn comes, he and his family will get the vaccine.
In the video, people from Arab, Black, Indian and other ethnic minorities try to convince their fellow citizens that there is no harm in taking the vaccine and refute rumors spread by the so-called anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorists.
"There is no scientific evidence to suggest the vaccine will work differently on people from ethnic minority backgrounds," one of them said, while others stressed that it does not contain the virus itself or a chip to track them.
According to the latest official data released by the Department of Health and Social Care, as of January 23, over 6,3 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines had been handed in the United Kingdom, as part of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign that started on December 8.
The government's plan is to offer the vaccines to 15 million people from the four-priority groups - the over-70s, healthcare workers, care home staff and those required to shield - by mid-February and millions more of the over-50s and other priority groups by spring.
