– Assalamu alaikum, greets Imam Malik Avais. He goes door-to-door at Fjell in Drammen to inform about corona and vaccination. He has done a lot of this lately. Avais sees it as a social responsibility. – A mosque is not just a place for performing rituals. A mosque should have a major role in society. That is why I have taken the initiative to seek out people so that they can be better informed about corona, he says. Imam Malik Avais. Photo: Christine Breivik Øen / news The work started already at the beginning of the pandemic. Then it was about informing the members of the Mosque, and other Pakistanis who live on Fjell, about the corona and the corona restrictions. Sajid Mukhtar, chairman of Drammen mosque Photo: Christine Breivik Øen / news – The idea was that we could at least inform our members, and in that way reduce the infection in society. Now it is mostly about vaccination, in an environment that still refuses to take the vaccine. – There are no official statistics, but what the healthcare system in Drammen tells us is that fewer people with an immigrant background come to be vaccinated than expected, says the chairman of the mosque, Sajid Mukhtar. – Was afraid Salman Butt lives at Fjell, and is a member of the mosque. He hesitated for a long time to take the vaccine. – I was afraid that some vaccines were not good for you, like AstraZeneca and Pfizer, so I waited a very long time. Salman Butt hesitated for a long time to take the vaccine. But decided when the Imam came to the door. Photo: Christine Breivik Øen / news In the end he ended up taking the Pfizer vaccine. By then he had already been through a round of corona disease. An important reason why Butt chose to get vaccinated was precisely because he could talk to the imam about it. – I knew you had to get vaccinated. Still, I didn’t want to, because I was afraid. But when I hear it from someone who speaks my language, and who is well known in the environment, it feels safer to take it. Removing the language barrier – This has created a lot of good vibes in the local community – that the mosque and an imam can take this role. It is very beneficial, says Avais He feels that many people want to get the right information, but for some the language is a barrier. – Many of the mosque’s members come from rural Pakistan and have no formal education, which makes it more difficult to learn Norwegian. It will therefore be easier to convey information about the pandemic in their language. Avais also hangs posters at the bus stops with information about the vaccine in Urdu. Photo: Christine Breivik Øen / news Many have also been skeptical about taking the vaccine, the imam continues. – We have worked to reach out to them and after we helped them, I feel that many took the necessary precautions and many also got vaccinated. Gets support from IMDi The project is one of many that has received support from the Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi). In order to reach out to the immigrant population in Norway, extraordinary grants have been issued to voluntary organizations to spread information about corona and the vaccine. Altogether, almost NOK 20 million has been given to voluntary organizations across the country. Fafo and FHI are now working on an analysis of whether these subsidies have worked. The full report is not finished yet, but the first interim report will be published in December.
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Informs immigrants about the corona vaccine – imam spends three hours every day – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
