The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on whether the government would work with leaders of faith communities to increase vaccine uptake on 22nd January 2024, following a discussion on a rise in measles cases in the UK:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, on the relatively low take-up in minority communities, either the message is not getting through, sometimes for language reasons, or there is a lack of trust. There is quite a lot of evidence, not least in other parts of the world, that the way to address that is to clearly target the recognised community leaders so that they can act as brokers. What attempts are being made to work in our gurdwaras, temples and mosques in particular, to get those leaders to commend these vaccinations to the people with whom they are in direct contact?
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con): The right reverend Prelate is right to bring up this subject. Pop-up clinics are a quick and easy way to serve hard-to-reach communities. He mentioned mosques, where the Government are using a new initiative to encourage parents to take their children for immunisation. He also mentioned distrust of the vaccine; for example, there are variations with different make-ups. For those with religious beliefs about using pig content, there are alternatives. There is no reason why anybody in this country should not take up this very safe vaccine; as he says, we have to encourage all sections of the community to take it up.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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