NHS STAFF have urged members of the African-Caribbean community in London to take the vaccine.

Doctors, nurses and other frontline staff have come forward to reassure communities that receiving the jab is safe and has undergone testing to the highest standard.

To increase vaccine take up clinicians have recorded messages in parts of the capital that have the most non-English speaking people to ensure all communities know the importance of taking the jab.

Video messages have been produced in languages including Somali, Swahili and Yoruba. 

Comfort Ekwueme, Triage and Assessment Team Leader at Tower Hamlet’s Community Services, speaks Igbo and joined calls urging her community to consider the vaccination.

“The Covid-19 vaccine gives you the best protection from coronavirus so when you are invited to get the vaccine, please go. 

“The sooner we are all vaccinated, the sooner we can get London back to normal,” she said.

Medical director for the NHS in London, Dr Vin Diwakar, also stressed the importance of partaking in the vaccination programme after “watching more than 4,000 Londoners losing their lives to Covid.”

He said: “Getting one of the safe, effective and well-tested vaccines when you are invited to do so is the best way you can protect yourself and those around you from becoming unwell.  

“While we vaccinate more and more Londoners, we need everyone to keep playing their part in protecting each other by staying at home whenever possible.” 

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, acknowledges the disproportionate impact that virus has had on black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities in London, and issued his concerns of not combating this through vaccine hesitancy.

“It has been an exceptionally hard year for London and the UK – but the Covid-19 vaccines mean that there is some much-needed light at the end of the tunnel.  

“[These] videos such as this are a fantastic way to get the message out loud and clear that the vaccines are safe, effective and our best route out of this awful pandemic.”  

The videos encouraging participation in the vaccination programme can be viewed and downloaded from NHS London.