Labour Councillor Suspended and Resigns After Illegally Purchasing Covid Jab To Jump Queue
A Labour councillor has been suspended from the party after boasting on Facebook about privately purchasing a Covid-19 jab from a private care doctor, despite all jabs in the UK legally only being available on the NHS.
Jamila Azad, who represents St Clements and Cowley Marsh on Oxfordshire County Council, and St Clements on Oxford City Council, was suspended from the party after posting on Facebook that she had received the jab from a private doctor.
"My darling daughter took me to a Private Care Doctor for Covid 19 vaccine" she wrote – ignorant of the fact that despite the UK having one of the most successful vaccination programs, vaccinations are in tight supply and millions are still waiting their turn. Azad even arrogantly stated that she did not want to wait like the rest of British citizens, saying "A long wait for NHS waiting list. We had take away from Akber take away." Her post was accompanied by photographs of the councillor and another woman, understood to be her daughter, receiving shots from a man in medical scrubs and PPE.
When asked to comment on the post and her suspension from Labour, Ms Azad said she did not want to comment.
Susan Brown, the Leader of the Labour Group at Oxford City Council and Liz Brighouse, Leader of the Labour Group at Oxfordshire County Council issued a joint statement. "Following a recent post on her Facebook account about her Covid 19 vaccination, Councillor Jamila Azad has been suspended by the whips of both the Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council Labour Groups, pending further investigation" adding "Councillor Azad has now removed the post in question."
According to the Government it is currently illegal for coronavirus vaccines to be administered outside of the NHS.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency had only authorised Covid vaccinations for use through the NHS. The Government spokesman added "It would be illegal to administer vaccines outside of the NHS and, if this happened, the MHRA would take enforcement action."
Azad, a Labour councillor who described receiving a Covid vaccination from a "private care doctor" in an online post resigned from the party.
Azad's remark led to claims she may have illegally had a jab privately. The councillor told the BBC she used the "wrong wording" and the injection was on the NHS. But Azad, whose address is listed in Oxford, admitted going to Birmingham for the jab after "my daughter told me" they had stock of the Pfizer vaccine. She said her GP had not advised a certain brand, instead it was "my choice" as she claimed Pfizer was "more effective".
Under NHS rules, people cannot choose which vaccine they have unless there are special circumstances. The NHS in Birmingham backed up the councillor's account her vaccination was on the NHS and said it had found "no evidence" it was given by a private care doctor or that it was provided in return for money.
In an email exchange with the BBC, Azad, said "I have serious medical condition and asked my GP if I can have vaccine from anywhere and she said yes... it was wrong wording because of my English [despite claiming to be an English Teacher] and wasn't thinking and didn't know that this can't be done privately."
She said her remark about a "long wait for NHS waiting list" was not meant to suggest she had "jumped the queue" but was in reference to older people she knew in her ward, who were still waiting for the vaccine at the time.