FAQs from British Asians about the coronavirus vaccine
The UK was the first country to approve the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The first batch of 800,000 doses began to be administered on Tuesday 8 December.
There have been some concerns and reluctance about taking the vaccine among ethnic minorities. Research from the Royal Society for Public Health suggests that 76% of the UK public would take the vaccine if advised to do so, but that number fell to 57% amongst black, Asian and people from minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.
Asians were the least likely to say yes, with confidence falling to 55%. BBC Asian Network asked listeners to send in their questions about the vaccine. The concerns raised range from the vaccine's long-term effects to whether the ingredients are halal or vegetarian-friendly.
Divya Chadha Manek from the UK Vaccine Taskforce answers listeners' questions in English. You can also see answers from doctors in five South Asian languages: Gujarati, Punjabi, Sylheti, Tamil and Urdu. Find out more about the vaccine rollout in the five languages here.
