MORE than half of adults in Gwent have now received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board has said.

On Monday (March 29) the health board confirmed 360,183 vaccines have been administered across the region – meaning 51 per cent of adults have been jabbed.

The Jamia Mosque in Newport opened its doors as a community vaccination centre on Tuesday (March 23).

The mosque, introduced to overcome “vaccine hesitancy among the city’s Muslim population”, was the first in Wales to be used to administer vaccinations.

“While the health board has made every effort to contact those who fall under the relevant priority groups within these communities, there have been cases where an offer of a vaccination has not been accepted,” a statement from the health board read on Monday.

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“With clinics such as this one operating in a different environment, local people have the opportunity to receive their vaccination in an alternative, more comfortable location.”

Dr Kasim Ramzan, a local GP and member of Muslim Doctors Cymru, assured patients that the vaccine is halal and having it will not break Ramadan fasts.

He said having the clinic in the mosque helped to vaccinate people “we have never been able to access before".