AN Oxford Labour councillor has been suspended from the party after claiming on Facebook she had a Covid jab with a ‘private care doctor’, which should only be available on the NHS.

Jamila Azad, who represents St Clements and Cowley Marsh on Oxfordshire County Council, and St Clements on Oxford City Council, was suspended from the party over the weekend.

Ms Azad had posted a Facebook status update last week in which she claimed to have had a Covid 19 vaccination from a private doctor.

The full text of the social media post by Ms Azad said: “My darling daughter took me to a Private Care Doctor for Covid 19 vaccine. A long wait for NHS waiting list. We had take away from Akber take away.”

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The post, which has since been removed, was accompanied by photographs of the councillor and another woman, likely her daughter, receiving jabs from a man in medical scrubs and PPE.

When asked to comment on the post and her suspension from Labour, Ms Azad said she did not want to comment, and asked the LDRS not to contact her again.

Oxford Mail:

A screenshot of the Facebook status shared by Jamila Azad, which has since been removed.

Susan Brown, the Leader of the Labour Group at Oxford City Council and Liz Brighouse, Leader of the Labour Group at Oxfordshire County Council issued a joint statement in relation to the post.

It said: “Following a recent post on her Facebook account about her Covid 19 vaccination, Cllr Jamila Azad has been suspended by the whips of both the Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council Labour Groups, pending further investigation. Cllr Azad has now removed the post in question.

“We will be making no further comment on this matter until formal investigations into it have been completed.”

It is understood that Oxfordshire Labour councillors have been briefed about the suspension, and the statement has been circulated among them.

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According to the Department of Health and Social Care it is currently illegal for coronavirus vaccines to be administered outside of the NHS.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has only authorised Covid vaccinations for use through the NHS.

It would be illegal to administer vaccines outside of the NHS and, if this happened, the MHRA would be able to take enforcement action.

Current Covid vaccinations which have been authorised include the Oxford-Astra Zeneca Vaccine, and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

It is unclear where Ms Azad and her daughter may have received the vaccine apparently administered by a private doctor.

There are no restaurants called Akber takeaway in Oxford according to a simple Google search.

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