TONIGHT (Friday, Feb 19): Join an expert panel of members of the Polish community, Polish scientists and NHS experts who will be discussing the issue of why many Poles in the UK are saying they don’t want to take the vaccination.

The Oxford Polish Association (OAPA) says the reason for low take up is not clear.

But it believes: “The media chaos, the incredible amount of fake news on social media do not help and arouse a number of doubts and understandable human anxiety.

“We’ve organised an online event where you will be able to ask your questions and listen to Polish experts, virologists, health care professionals – people who know the topic, because this is their life after many years of gaining knowledge through research, work and experience.”

The event has been arranged in collaboration with OPA, Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group. The event will be streamed on Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/oxfordcitycouncil or you can register to join the Zoom event here

Who will talk?

Ewa Gluza Oxford Polish Association, Anna Denslow founder and CEO of Szczepienia Rozwiewamy Wątpliwości (Vaccines – it Works! Foundation) and Councillor Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for a Safer, Healthy Oxford will open the live streaming event between 7pm and 9pm.

They will be joined by expert panellists including:

Prof. Agnieszka Szuster-Ciesielska – full professor at Department of Virology and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland. She is a virologist and an immunologist, and an academic teacher with 25 years of scientific experience.

Emilia Skirmuntt BSc MSc MSc is a doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford where she works on the genome and virus evolution, including the co-evolution of viruses and their hosts.

Dr Joanna Bagniewska is a scientist and science communicator who works at Oxford University Hospitals Trust

Informal discussions will take place between 8.10-9pm with Dr Magdalen Gould, GP in Oxford and Adam Darowski, Consultant Physician from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust