Ramadan: Evening Covid jab offered at Balsall Heath Islamic centre

The Al-Abbas Islamic Centre has so far administered 15,000 vaccines in the Balsall Heath area

An Islamic centre in Birmingham is to offer Covid-19 vaccinations in the hours of darkness to encourage people fasting during Ramadan to get the jab.

The British Islamic Medical Association has issued assurances that having the vaccination will not break the fast.

However, there have been concerns from Islamic scholars and NHS leaders the fasting period may discourage some.

The Al-Abbas Islamic Centre is offering vaccination appointments on Friday and Saturday after 21:00 BST.

During Ramadan, which began on Tuesday, many Muslims abstain from allowing anything to enter their body, such as food and drink, between sunrise and sunset.

The service, offered in partnership with NHS England, will continue until the end of Ramadan and people must be in one of the priority groups and bring photo ID.

"All Islamic scholars who are authorities on Islamic laws have... said there is nothing wrong for us to take the vaccine, whether in the morning, or in the afternoon or at night, there is nothing... to worry about," Sheikh Nuru Mohammed, an imam at the Balsall Heath centre, said.

The imam, Sheikh Nuru Mohammed, said there was nothing to worry about

Dr Samara Afzal, Muslim doctor and lead GP at the Dudley vaccination centre, advised anyone concerned about possibly having a reaction and then taking paracetamol with water to try to book their jab at about midday.

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She said: "We know it takes about eight to 10 hours to get the side effects... fever, the aches, and so by the time it's eight, nine o'clock it'll be time to have your evening meal so then you can take paracetamol.

"Then if you do get symptoms again with the morning meal, you can continue to take paracetamol.

"After that... if you are quite unwell with it... you can miss the fast and that's completely allowed in Islam. That's not just me saying that, but Islamic scholars saying you can make up that fast later."

Dr Samara Afzal said as a Muslim doctor she was getting a "lot of questions" asking if doses could be postponed until after Ramadan

The GP at Netherton Health Centre said people "need to have their vaccine on schedule, particularly if it's that second dose".

She added: "If you wait a month, we don't know how much your immunity levels will drop by."