Published 15:45 IST, February 21st 2021
Europe's biggest Hindu temple helping people get vaccinated in UK
The public vaccination centre has been set-up inside a school on the grounds of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden, London.
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Europe's biggest Hindu temple, situated in northwest London, has set up an inoculation centre to administer COVID-19 vaccine shots to residents, especially amongst the ethnic minority communities of England. The public vaccination centre has been set-up inside a school on the grounds of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden, London. The centre is helping the National Health Service (NHS) in its effort to vaccinate as many people as possible.
The inoculation centre at the Neasden temple opened earlier this month, where at least 12 vaccination units have been set up inside the drama room of the school on the premises. As of February 13, volunteers at the temple had vaccinated more than 15,000 people through their inoculation centre. The temple is administering AstraZeneca/Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine, which was approved for use in the UK on December 30.
Amazing #covidvaccine effort at Swaminarayan temple at Neasden, north London. Volunteers like Nishtha are a vital part of the achievement- 15,000 people vaccinated through the temple and #generalpractice #covid19 pic.twitter.com/bCjp5SxwCJ
— Prerana Issar💙 (@Prerana_Issar) February 13, 2021
Volunteers & health professionals from the #KingsburyMandir & local community give their time every week to support @HarnessUK to #vaccinate 1000s every week. The power of #community and #collaboration is a lasting testament to the temple’s founder #AcharyaSwamishreeMaharaj. #NHS pic.twitter.com/QmBkX8WR2g
— Swaminarayan Mandir (@SGadiLondon) February 13, 2021
'Pleased to help NHS'
British Home Secretary Priti Patel visited the temple earlier this month to see the ongoing vaccination programme. "As a regular visitor to the beautiful NeasdenTemple, it was great returning today to see the team helping as many people as possible get protected by the vaccine. Thank you for all you do to support the Hindu community. I hope we can all be together again soon," Patel sad tweeted on February 4.
The Home Secretary @PritiPatel visited the vaccination centre at #NeasdenTemple today. We are pleased to support the #NHS in its heroic efforts to get the nation vaccinated, so that we can all overcome #Covid19 together. pic.twitter.com/y33huTTQam
— Neasden Temple (@NeasdenTemple) February 3, 2021
The centre is not just administering vaccine shots, but it is also working to raise awareness and dispel misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. According to new data, people from ethnic minority communities in the UK are less likely to take COVID-19 vaccines because of their lack of trust in authorities and institutions. The temple, through its daily sermons and other means, is trying to get more people from the community vaccinated. The UK government data suggests Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority communities are hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Updated 15:45 IST, February 21st 2021