Is the vaccine halal? Covid questions answered in Punjabi

The South Asian community has one of the highest levels of vaccine hesitancy in the UK, surveys suggest.

More than 40% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi people say they are unlikely to get the jab, while more than 20% of Indian people do not want to be vaccinated, according to a document from the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

Doctors believe fake news could be causing some people to reject the Covid vaccine. Some of these myths include claims the vaccine contains animal products and is not halal, or that it causes infertility. Another is false information around the scale of the pandemic, with claims hospitals are empty, when in fact many are overwhelmed.

BBC Asian Network debunks these rumours in five South Asian languages: Urdu, Tamil, Gujarati, Sylheti and Punjabi.

Raj Kaur Bilkhu looks into some of the myths around coronavirus and vaccines in Punjabi.

  • Subsection
  • Published