A young doctor has taken to social media to film videos in Bangla to help combat misinformation on vaccines. 

Dr Tasnim Jara, 26, is addressing the fears her peers have shared with her as the vaccine has now become available to those aged 25 to 29.

Dr Jara works as an A&E doctor in the NHS and is studying for an MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care at Oxford University.

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Her videos have been viewed for more than 280 million minutes and she has gained more than 1.6 million followers across Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. 

Working on the frontline, Dr Jara regularly has to help her patients make decisions about whether or not to have Covid 19 vaccines. 

She said: “I am primarily reaching out to Bangla-speaking communities with my work and a large portion of my followers are aged between 18 to 34.

'Anti-vaxxers'

“I have encountered many anti-vaxxers, many young people among them. They questioned the speed of vaccine development, claim that vaccines are being deployed as part of a massive ‘experiment’ on people, spun narratives that it was the vaccines causing a surge in deaths due to Covid. 

“One of the more damaging claims was that vaccines affect fertility, which understandably caused a lot of concern among young people.  

“Some believe that they cannot get seriously unwell with Covid. Some see no benefit of the vaccine as they would still have to follow all precautions.

“There are lots of myths out there that we still need to address.”

According to the latest Office for National Statistics report, people whose main language was not English were less likely to receive the first and the second dose of the vaccine compared to native speakers. 

Another report from ONS found that people from a Bangladeshi background had a substantially higher rate of mortality compared to the White British population during both the first and second waves. 

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Dr Jara is a member of #Team Halo – an inspiring group of scientists, doctors and health professionals from around the world who volunteer their time to make videos on social media answering questions about Covid vaccines. 

She said: “These platforms are where young people hang out. So, at TeamHalo, we’re working to make reliable information accessible on these platforms, in a way they like to engage with. 

“Social media platforms are also the primary medium through which vaccine misinformation spreads so it is important to share reliable information on the same platform.”