Getting a Covid vaccine during Ramadan will not break the fast observed by Muslims, Swindon health boss said.

Ramadan starts tomorrow and is expected to end on May 12, with Muslims fasting from dawn to sunset.

The town’s director of public health Steve Maddern said: "Muslim medics, some of the medical scholars and some of the Islamic scholars have reinforced the messages of the British Islamic Medical Association that you can continue to have your vaccine during Ramadan. 

"It is not nutritional, so if you're invited for your vaccination during Ramadan, then please do take the opportunity to have it."

Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and national medical director for primary care, said the vaccine is “entirely appropriate to have during Ramadan."

She added: “It is vital that people of all faiths feel able to come forward and get the vaccine.”

The NHS Race and Health Observatory joined the Muslim Doctors Association in encouraging the Muslim community to also make use of the twice-weekly lateral flow testing available to the public from Monday.

Dr Habib Naqvi, director of the Observatory, said: “Now is the time to put faith to the test, preserve life and trust the opinion of Islamic scholars and mosque committees who have confirmed both the vaccination and lateral flow tests will not invalidate or break the Ramadan fast.”