Health champions Bashir Ibrahim, left, and Asad Choudhury

ACTIVISTS are working to create “viral videos” to tackle the spread of anti-vaccine “fake news” in their communities.

Videos and messages propagating misinformation about Covid-19 and the vaccines have been spread on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter since the virus first broke out of China at the beginning of the year.

Now “health champions” in Islington have launched a fight-back by creating videos of their own after they saw “dangerous” opinions take root in their communities.

Bashir Ibrahim, 28, who lives in Finsbury Park, said: “There’s been a wide proliferation of fake news, especially on WhatsApp groups. One video can be sent into a group of ten people then they send it on and then on and on it goes.

“I want to use that technique to spread accurate information.”

He added: “Some of my family have had Covid quite badly. I have seen how dangerous it can be. I have friends who have lost parents. It really irks me to hear some of the danger­ous things people have said.

“Anti-vaxxers seem to have aligned themselves with people’s honest fears around the vaccine and twisted it.”

Mr Ibrahim is part of a group of “health champions” who receive scripts from Islington and Camden’s local Public Health officials which can be used to counter misinformation.

It’s understood that more than 130,000 people have received the jab in the UK so far, only two of whom had an allergic reaction.

Asad Choudhury, an executive director of the Islington Bangladeshi Association said: “I’ve made videos for Instagram, WhatsApp and Twitter.

“My daughter is a teacher and she says she will not take the vaccine. She said it is not well tested – this is the anxiety we must try to stop.”

Islington’s community chief, Councillor Sue Lukes, said: “We are working hard to get the essential messages
out on how people can protect those they care about, on how important it is to get tested, and on how safe the vaccines are.”