“We must remain steadfast in these dark days and be heartened by reminders in the Holy Quran, including that ‘…whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity‘ (5:32)”
First time the Enquirer has started a story with a quotation from the Holy Quran but as this is all about saving lives we thought it was appropriate (If it is not please let us know).
We think it is relevant because being vaccinated is not just about saving your life it is about saving the lives of your family, friends and your community.
How would you feel if you refused the vaccine, became infected and survived but infected your family who did not survive? That is the reality.
So we all need to get informed with facts from reliable sources, not the nonsense spread on Facebook or WhatsApp.
Vaccines are halal! Spread the word
Many in our borough are not on the internet (or just don’t use it) and those people need to be reached. Best way to reach them? Paper.
Of course there may be other information from trusted public health sources you might want to use, go ahead and use that.
Bottom line is that people need to be informed so they can make their own choices.
Why the emphasis on our Bangladeshi community? Because numerous studies that people from ethnic minorities, especially Bangladeshi, are more at risk of catching Covid-19.
Simple as that.
In the absence of any targeted messaging campaign about vaccine hesitancy by Tower Hamlets Council it is up to our communities to step up.
That means you. Not the person next to you or the next person to read this. You.
Thanks BIMA!
The excellent vaccine myth busting information below is published by the British Islamic Medical Association which we have shamelessly copied and added a couple of bits. Hope that is OK BIMA!
Community leaders are encouraged to translate this information into Bengali and print it out and circulate it, ideally with English on the other side.
Please remember to quote the source of the information, BIMA.
Summary British Islamic Medical Association position statement on Oxford Astra-Zeneca Covid vaccine.
“Having taken into account all the available information we recommend the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for eligible individuals in Muslim communities”
Summary British Islamic Medical Association position statement on Oxford Astra-Zeneca Covid vaccine.
“Having taken into account all the available information into account including the increased risk from Covid-19 to those from an ethnic minority: We recommend the Pfizer / BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for eligible at-risk individuals in Muslim communities”
Vaccine Myth Busters – The Facts
ভ্যাকসিন মিথ মিথ্যাচারী – ঘটনা
MYTH: The vaccine may modify your DNA
TRUTH: It is impossible for the RNA in the vaccine to change the DNA of anyone including you. The vaccine used mRNA technology to teach our cells to create a protective response. The mRNA is broken down soon after doing its job.
MYTH: COVID deaths are being exaggerated
TRUTH: Covid deaths are most likely under-reported rather than exaggerated. At the time of publication deaths from Covid in the UK were over 100,000 people.
MYTH: COVID vaccine causes irreversible side effects.
TRUTH: No patient has so far suffered from irreversible side effects either in trials or when vaccinated.
MYTH: GPs are making a lot of money from COVID vaccinations
TRUTH: GPs are paid £12.50 per injection. Most won’t make a profit, some will make a loss.
MYTH: COVID is no more dangerous than the flu
TRUTH: COVID kills up to 10 times more people than flu.
MYTH: COVID is caused by the 5G network
TRUTH: COVID is spreading in countries that have no 5G network like Iran. There is no scientific connection.
MYTH: Vaccines are being used to chip and track the population
TRUTH: Vaccines do not contain any chips or trackers for surveillance. There are lots of much easier ways to track the population like your mobile phone or bank card.
MYTH: Doctors want to force people to be vaccinated
TRUTH: You should make your own mind up based on factual information from trusted sources like your GP, mosque or community leaders.
MYTH: The COVID vaccine ingredients are Haram
TRUTH: The Pfizer-Biontech vaccine contains no animal ingredients at all.
MYTH: Vaccines contain aborted foetal cells
TRUTH: Vaccines do not contain foetal cells. Many decades ago some vaccines (not the Pfizer / Moderna Covid vaccines) used special foetal cells but this has not been the case for a long time.
MYTH: Vaccines are unsafe – that is why no pregnant women were in trials
TRUTH: Pregnant women and children are not usually included in initial trials for any medicine. Existing vaccines are not recommended for children at the moment and guidance is provided for pregnant women to make their own decision. This does not mean it is unsafe for these groups.
MYTH: Pharmaceutical companies are all evil so we can’t trust them
TRUTH: The pharmaceutical industry has acted wrongly in the past but this does not mean we should reject their current work. We all take painkillers, antibiotics and chemotherapy medicines produced by the same companies.
MYTH: The vaccine was approved too quickly to be safe
TRUTH: The vaccine was approved so quickly because red tape was cut, not by cutting corners. Scientists all over the world worked together to do work that would normally takes years in just months.
MYTH: A nurse took the COVID vaccine and died on camera
TRUTH: Untrue. The nurse fainted and after she recovered she gave a press conference to say she had fainted previously when in pain.
MYTH: The inventor of the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test said it was not made to detect diseases such as COVID
TRUTH: There is no evidence that Dr Kary Mullis, the inventor of the PCR process, ever said this. Dr Mullis died in August 2019, months before the first case of Covid was reported.
MYTH: PCR is inaccurate and overestimating COVID infections
TRUTH: No test is 100% accurate but there is no evidence to suggest that the concerns regarding Covid infections and the severity of coronavirus are misplaced.
MYTH: 99.97% recover from COVID, but 3% get major side effects from vaccine
TRUTH: These numbers are false. Over a million people have died worldwide from the virus and millions more suffer long term complications.
MYTH: Wearing a mask is bad for your health
TRUTH: There is no evidence that wearing a mask is harmful but there is evidence to show that they can protect. Wearing a mask is just one way we can all help reduce the spread of Covid as well as social distancing and washing our hands.
MYTH: We should just wait for herd immunity
TRUTH: The number of deaths that will occur before we can possibly achieve herd immunity would be disastrous. Herd immunity only works if the majority of the populations has had Covid or has been vaccinated.
MYTH: If hospitals are so busy why are the Nightingale hospitals empty?
TRUTH: Because of the huge numbers of people being admitted with the virus to normal hospitals there is a lack of trained staff to staff the Nightingale hospitals.
The has this to say about the Covid-19 vaccine.
“MINAB strongly recommends people to take the vaccines. The Covid vaccines administered in the UK are halal, permissible from Islamic perspective, and there should be no hesitation in taking them from a moral perspective. MINAB is advocating this position through its proactive endeavour for the BAME communities to be vaccinated, as BAME communities are at very high risk of being infected by this lethal virus.
Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board
If anyone could provide the Enquirer with a text-only Bengali language version of the above information please email it to hello@eastendenquirer.org and we will post that here for people to download as a PDF.
We cannot accept Microsoft Word documents – text only format please!
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