Asian restaurant visited by UK royals becomes first to open as a Covid-19 vaccine clinic

MyLahore’s flagship venue in Bradford is part of an NHS drive to boost vaccine take-up

MyLahore’s flagship restaurant in Bradford is opening as a vaccination clinic. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

An Asian restaurant has become the first in the UK to open as a walk-in clinic for Covid-19 vaccinations.

MyLahore’s flagship venue in Bradford has been working with the NHS to encourage people to receive their vaccinations.

It is in an area of England which has been hit hard with Covid-19 cases throughout the pandemic and has ex[erienced a high level of vaccine hesitancy, with low adoption from people among black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

The area's latest data shows an increase of 24.8% of people contracting Covid-19.

From Thursday, MyLahore restaurant will be opening in the evening to allow people to walk in and get vaccinated.

Customers will be able to have their first, second, or booster dose and will have the opportunity to put forward any questions they may have about the vaccine to clinical experts.

The walk-in clinic follows up from previous events at the restaurant, including a live question-and-answer session over summer.

Ishfaq Farooq, director of MyLahore, said the event was important to enable customers to be given trusted information.

“The NHS held a questions-and-answers session about the Covid-19 vaccine back in summer at the restaurant, and our customers engaged with the clinical experts on the day," he said.

"The feedback we had from our customers was that they found the session helpful, it addressed their concerns and the misinformation they were hearing or reading about the vaccine. We then decided to work with the NHS to put on a vaccine clinic here at the restaurant.

“We are giving our customers another opportunity to come and talk to the clinical experts, so that they can get trusted information. We know the NHS is under increasing pressure and its a race against time to get as many people vaccinated with the spread of the Omicron variant.

"We all have a part to play in this and help our NHS get through this, which is why we’ve decided to put on this clinic. By holding it on an evening time it will offer greater convenience for our customers and staff.”

Last year, Prince William and his wife Kate visited the restaurant during a trip to the city and were shown how to make mango and kulfi milkshakes.

The restaurant has been holding information clinics with medical professionals to help the community get vaccinated.

Rukeya Miah, deputy associate director of Nursing at Bradford District and Craven Vaccination Programme, said the vaccine clinic was vital in the race against the rise in Omicron cases.

“All NHS staff are working incredibly hard to get as many people vaccinated as we possibly can because of the threat the Omicron variant poses to us and our communities," she said.

“Adults aged 18 and over who have had their first and second dose are being urged to have their booster dose. Without the added protection from this third dose, NHS beds could quickly fill up.

“Come and talk to us, we can have that open and honest conversation with you about the vaccine and put your concerns to rest.

"The NHS can’t do this without you, we need you to come forward and have your vaccine and vaccinating at different locations shows how determined we are to vaccinate as many people as we can. I’d encourage customers at MyLahore to get vaccinated.”