'They're not hard to reach': Health official calls for better vaccine information for BAME communities
Health officials calls for better outreach to black, asian and minority ethnic groups as another mosque open as a coronavirus vaccination centre.
Greg Fell, Sheffield's Director of Public Health, said BAME communities should not be called ''hard to reach'' and said more needs to be done to appropriately communicate the message.
''Black and minority ethnic isn't a homogenous group, some ways of framing a message will fly differently in different segments of the population.''
Makki Masjid, Sheffield's oldest mosque, has become the latest place of worship to offer jabs for the virus.
It follows the likes of other mosques in the region, such as Bradford Central Mosque, the Jamia Ghausia Centre in Sheffield and Keighley Mosque.
Makki Masjid's Imam, Osama Sacha, said the initiative has helped accelerate and increase take-up of the vaccine where there may be reluctance, and praised the ''overwhelming outcome'' at the mosque.
He also welcomed other places of worship who are keen to come on board, such as churches and synagogues.
We spoke to science communicator Dr Shamaila Anwar, who's part ofTeam Halo, an initiative aimed at dispelling myths around the vaccination programme.
Earlier this month, there were calls for more patients from black, asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to take up the offer of the coronavirus vaccine.
Additonally, the Vaccine Minister, Nadim Zawahi said it is important to adopt a "hyper local approach" to tackling the problem to prevent the disease going "through those communities like wildfire."
Sheffield councillor, Kaltum Rivers, has been encouraging the Somali community to get the jab. She says people aren't being given the right information.
The NHS website now has vaccine information videos in various languages such as Slovak, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi.