Nadiya Hussain joins video campaign to urge British Bangladeshis to get Covid vaccine

The Great British Bake Off winner and TV chef Nadiya Hussain has starred in a video campaign in an attempt to encourage the British Bangladeshi community to get the coronavirus vaccine.

The video campaign includes Ms Hussain, Asma Khan from the Netflix’s Chef’s Table series and MasterChef’s Dr Saliha Mahmood who have joined the NHS to try and fight any hesitancy surrounding the vaccine. 

In the video message, Ms Hussain says: “Education is empowering. By educating ourselves around vaccination it allows us to encourage our family members, loved ones and communities to get the vaccine.”

The video message, recorded by the three stars, is part of an international vaccination campaign backed by the United Nations.

Data provided by the NHS has revealed that in England, 76,106 people of Bangladeshi ethnicity have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

This is not the first such campaign using celebrities to encourage vaccine uptake. In February, all Adil Ray, Beverley Knight, Romesh Ranganathan and Denise Lewis appeared in a video targeting members of ethnic minority groups and appealing to them to get vaccinated.

This video aired simultaneously across several channels which included ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and STV.

Currently, over 20 million people living in the UK have had at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccination. This figure includes 90 per cent of those aged 65 and over. However, the NHS is still trying to encourage people from black, Asian and ethnic minority groups to go and get a jab.

Dr Mahmood, who is NHS doctor and also won MasterChef in 2017, said: “It is imperative we talk the language of these communities. As an NHS doctor but also as a woman and mother from this community, I hope to use this platform to spread a positive message around vaccination as far as possible.”

Ms Khan, who owns Darjeeling Express restaurant in London, said: “Food is at the heart of our communities and our families, and the quicker we get vaccinated the quicker we will be able to enjoy meals together with our loved ones.”

The NHS had offered all those in the first four priority groups a vaccine which they should have had by mid-February. They are now in the process of vaccinating the remaining groups.