MOSQUE TO BE FIRST AS VACCINE CENTRE
NEWPORT will be home to the first mosque to be used as a vaccination centre in Wales next week. Jamia Mosque in Pillgwenlly will open its doors to patients for the day on March 23, “irrespective of background, ethnicity or religion”, Muslim Doctors Cymru has announced.
The drop-in vaccination hub in central Newport will be open to anybody over the age of 60 who has not yet received their first jab, and patients will not need to book an appointment prior to coming along.
“It’s for everybody,” said Dr Kasim Ramzan, a GP from Newport and organiser with Muslim Doctors Cymru.
“It’s drop-in, so no appointments are needed. And it’s for those who haven’t had their first jab.”
The vaccination hub is open for anybody who meets these requirements within the Aneurin Bevan health board area, which includes Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Torfaen and Monmouthshire.
The only thing patients are required to do in order to receive their jab is bring a form of valid ID with them on the day, and organisers hope that having the clinic in a central spot such as Commercial Road will allow as many people as possible to drop in if they need to.
In addition to this, the setting in a community space provides a more welcoming environment for many people to get their jabs, especially if they potentially feel more hesitant about getting it done.
“The mosque is the local community space where there’s familiarity, so therefore we hope and feel that people are more comfortable in these areas and trust that whatever is happening in that space is OK, so normalising it and making it seem less alien,” said Dr Sayma Ahmed, organiser with Muslim Doctors Cymru.
The vaccination hub is the result of weeks of work by various volunteers, such as Muslim Doctors Cymru, which includes Kasim and Sayma, as well as Public Health Wales, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and local community groups including the Jamia Mosque itself, which is providing its space free of charge.
“There are really important roles played by local spaces to help make the vaccine acceptable,” said Dr Azim Ahmed, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Wales, discussing how spaces such as mosques can help people feel more comfortable with the vaccination process.
“We’ve seen this strategy already in places in England, in terms of there being places of worship used as vaccination centres.”
Dr Ahmed explained that mosques are not only well equipped to facilitate vaccination clinics for large groups of patients, but that they also provide a welcoming and trusted environment for individuals who may be unsure about receiving a vaccination.
“They are often well-embedded within local communities and, when you’re looking at particular groups, a place that they trust and a place that they’re familiar with is very important and takes away any anxieties and concerns that might be in place if they had to go to a medical centre.
“The idea is that it’s open and anyone from any faith and any background can turn up with no appointment,” said Dr Ahmed.
Explaining how establishing vaccination centres in community spaces such as mosques could help encourage more people to receive vaccination doses, Dr Ahmed said the solution is linked to the fact these places are trusted among local communities.
“We’re really looking at those places, those institutions, that communities trust,” he said.
“And I think it’s important to realise that, for various reasons, trust in governments is at an all-time low. People do have high levels of trust for those institutions in the community [such as mosques].”
He added: “Having it [the vaccination] in a place which is safe, which is familiar, and which is an institution trusted by many, many people, helps give a reliable space for them. And I think that’s absolutely vital because it does reassure and encourage those who might have concerns.”