UK: Muslims offered vaccines post-iftar

LONDON

Britain’s Muslim organizations have opened temporary vaccination centers that offer COVID-19 vaccines post-iftar during the holy month of Ramadan for those who think getting the jab will invalidate their fast.

On Friday evening, Muslims were given jabs at a temporary clinic set up in one such center in Sutton, South London.

The vaccination campaign was organized by Britain’s biggest Muslim umbrella group the Muslim Council of Britain and British Islamic Medical Association and supported by the country’s National Health Service (NHS).

A second day of vaccination will be held at the center on April 30.

Dr. Kashif Aziz from the Sutton Medical Centre told Anadolu Agency that some Muslims are of the view that getting a jab will break their fast.

“We don’t want people getting left behind just because they are worried about invalidating the fast,” he said.

“This is why we set up the clinic, because there were some concerns within the community,” the doctor added.

Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk in Ramadan. Fasting in this month, is one of the five pillars of their faith.

Fast vaccine rollout

The UK, which saw more than 127,000 deaths in the pandemic, has just left behind a national lockdown.

The latest lockdown in England had started on Jan. 5 after detection of new variants and faster infection rate, which all contributed big daily numbers both in deaths and new infections.

The country also started a wide-scale vaccination campaign and successfully gave the first dose to more than 32 million people and two doses to more than 8.5 million people.

The rollout continues as the health authorities have started offering the vaccine to those over the age of 45.

The government maintains all adults will be vaccinated by July.

The lockdown and vaccination helped Britain reduce daily deaths to less than 40 and infections under 3,000.