Sadiq Khan: I won’t waste my time with anti-vaxxers

FOR months those against taking the Covid vaccines have been spreading fake news about the vaccine.

They include false claims that the Covid vaccine contains pork, and so they cannot be taken by Muslims. In WhatsApp messages, south Asians have been told the vaccine will make women infertile. Others simply do not trust the government.

London mayor Sadiq Khan made clear his dislike of “anti-vaxxers”.

“Some of these anti-vaxxers, you can’t have a dialogue with these people so they’re not worth engaging with,” he said.

“I’m not gonna waste my time with them because I may amplify their messages.

“We don’t want to amplify the lies and the fake news that they have. Instead, what I do is I engage with those who are hesitant, and I’d ask them what their concerns are. Then I’d signpost them to people they trust. They trust their GP. They trust their community pharmacist. Ask them what their views are in relation to vaccines, and the reality is, these vaccines are robustly tested.”

Mosques, temples and celebrities have been at the forefront of trying to persuade south Asians to protect themselves by getting vaccinated.

While uptake is improving, it still needs to be better among south Asians. Analysis by Eastern Eye suggests that as of June 20, 67 per cent of Asian or Asian British had had their first vaccination.

Of these, almost 1.5 million or 64 per cent have returned for their second jab. That means while almost 43 per cent have both doses and are considered “fully protected”.

In the past, Khan told Eastern Eye that the government was not working with him.

But the London mayor praised the vaccine deployment minister Nadhim Zahawi for the work that they are now doing together.

“The good news is initially the issue was anti-vaxxers, Covid deniers, and that was one of the reasons for the hesitancy. What we see is that gap narrowing because of the great work taking place across our community. What we see now is people who aren’t sure, they need to be reassured. There are legitimate questions that need to be answered, and what we’re trying to do is to answer their questions.”

NHS England told Eastern Eye that it hoped take-up would continue to rise because of upcoming jab appointments and the government’s move to open vaccinations to over-18s.