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Leeds Live
Leeds Live
National
Kristian Johnson

The pharmacist on a mission to convince Leeds' most vaccine-sceptic suburb to get Covid jabs

Vaccine hesitancy in Harehills is nothing new.

The inner-city suburb has long since had issues with incredibly low uptakes of the Covid-19 vaccine, with people saying they are "scared" and teenagers admitting they would refuse the vaccine "even if someone gave me £1 million".

But the latest NHS figures reveal the scale of the problem.

Click here for the latest NHS headlines

Harehills South has the lowest uptake in the entire country for first doses, second doses and booster jabs.

Despite concerted efforts to try and convince more people to get their jabs, the numbers are dwindling. In the last week*, just 11 people a day have had a booster jab.

"There's a lot of misinformation," said pharmacist Salwan Al-Biatty. "I hear that all the time."

The 29-year-old works at Imaan Pharmacy on Harehills Lane and has been administering Covid-19 vaccines for a year.

Imaan Pharmacy on Harehills Lane, Leeds (Kristian Johnson / Reach plc)

"I did a vaccine recently and the man - he was actually being genuine - he was scared and asked: ‘Am I gonna die?’

"I mentioned to him that I've had the vaccine and it's all safe. I explained to him exactly what it is.

"He was reassured, so we did the vaccine and he went away happy. All it takes is someone just to speak them."

Leeds City Council says it is doing "all we can" to encourage people to get their vaccines.

Mobile vaccination units have been deployed in the area and videos have been broadcast in different languages, but the statistics speak for themselves. Harehills has consistently ranked as the UK's least vaccinated suburb throughout the pandemic.

Just 13 per cent of locals have had a booster jab so far. The UK average is 63.8 per cent.

"There is 100 per cent a lack of trust," said Salwan.

"You hear what’s going on with the government and the lockdown parties, for example.

"I think one of the main reasons why people are not getting vaccinated is because they're not being told what it is.

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Opposite the pharmacy is Fashion Fever, a clothes store run by Zulfiqar Mir.

He is all too aware of the devastating effects of Covid-19. Both his uncle and aunt, who live in Pakistan, recently died with coronavirus.

The 50-year-old and his wife have both had two doses of the vaccine, but he says misinformation in Harehills is rife.

Zulfiqar Mir's aunt and uncle both died with Covid-19 (Kristian Johnson / Reach plc)

"Some people don't believe in Covid still," he said.

"I don't know why. A lot of customers come here and I ask them to wear a face mask. They say: ‘No. Where is coronavirus? Show me coronavirus.’

"One of my friends is British-born and he is 85 years old. Still, he has not even had his first dose.

"His daughter-in-law is a doctor. His son is a doctor. The whole family is educated and still he says: ‘I don't believe that. Corona is bu*****t.’

"He’s totally against the vaccination. He thinks this is a big conspiracy. He tells me about 100 different kinds of websites from anti-vaccine dissenters.

"But I am looking and people are dying.

"We have seen a lot of friends and families affected. Some have died. Some are coming back from near-death.

"But I think a lot of people, until they die or somebody in their family dies, they won’t believe it."

A hundred metres further along Harehills Lane is the Bilal Centre, the main vaccination hub for Harehills and surrounding areas.

Muhammad Shakeel after receiving his booster vaccine at the Bilal Mosque Covid-19 vaccination centre in Harehills, Leeds (Kristian Johnson / Reach plc)

Taxi driver Muhammad Shakeel spoke to LeedsLive after getting his booster jab there on Wednesday afternoon.

"It’s good to get the booster," he said. "It lets me go travelling.

"It’s good for me and good for other people."

Andrew Whiting, manager of the neighbouring Troy Autopoint garage, added his entire workforce went to receive their booster jabs at the vaccination centre.

Andrew Whiting and his colleagues at Troy Autopoint have all been triple jabbed (Kristian Johnson / Reach plc)

He said: "The boss told us he had his [vaccine] at Elland Road. And then he said if anyone wants to go round there [to the Bilal Centre], you can join the queue. So we all went and had it done that day.

"All the staff have had three. Everybody."

More than 50,000 doses have been administered at the Bilal Centre, but when LeedsLive visited on Wednesday afternoon, there was just one person waiting to be vaccinated in the giant hall.

"I don’t know why people aren’t having it done," added Andrew. "It’s daft, isn’t it?"

The uptake of booster doses in Harehills South will remain a significant concern to health officials.

Across Leeds as a whole, 65 per cent of all eligible people have had their third dose of a vaccine. In Harehills South, it is just 13 per cent.

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A Leeds City Council spokesperson admitted uptake in the east Leeds neighbourhood "is not as high as we’d like to see," but it is taking a "focussed approach" to try and rectify the scepticism.

In a statement, they said: "One factor is that Harehills is a densely populated, deprived and diverse area of Leeds which has a higher number of people who are under 40 who therefore became eligible for their vaccine later in the programme. This will have an impact on the picture the data presents.

"At present, we are working with the NHS on the ‘every jab counts’ approach - it's not a quick process to change people's minds but we are continuing to do all we can by taking services directly into local communities and working with community organisations and leaders to make sure people have accurate information and the chance to discuss any concerns."

But Zalwan said the current tactics simply aren't working.

"There have not been enough translation services to make people understand," he said.

"Leaflets are not going to help. People will just pick it up and think nothing of it.

"It needs to be focused around the people that are leaders. Certain communities have their leaders, whether it's the Eastern Europeans or Asians, they all have someone to look up to.

"I think that's one of the best ways to tackle it."

*The figures are for the seven-day period to January 22, the latest publicly-available statistics for Covid-19 vaccinations.

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