People from the UK’s Black community are being encouraged to accept a Covid-19 vaccine amid concerns that they are less likely to take it up.

District nurse Genevieve Palmer was given the jab at Kingswood Health Centre in Bristol on Tuesday. She asked communities to take the vaccine "to protect yourself, protect your family and protect everybody."

A Royal Society for Public Health survey found that BAME groups, in general, were less likely to want the Covid vaccine. Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showing that Black people are almost twice as likely to die from Covid-19 as white people, with those of Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnicity about 1.7 times as likely. Ms Palmer said she was "very happy" to receive the inoculation but admitted there was scepticism in the Black community, even among her friends.

"When I was coming here, I ran into some friends from my background and when I said I'm going to get my Covid vaccine it wasn't well accepted, people were asking 'are you sure?'

"I just want to tell them, everyone in my ethnic minority, it's very safe, go and have it to protect yourself, protect your family and protect everybody. I want to encourage them to get out there and have it. Do your research, stop believing what you see on Youtube, it doesn't help."

Dr Neil Kerfoot is leading the vaccination programme at Kingswood Health Centre.He said that first in line were people aged over 80 and they had taken into account patients' other illnesses, vulnerability and ethnicity when planning the order of vaccinations for the community.

"I think it rates as one of the most complicated and challenging, but also one of the most exciting things we've done," said the GP.

Christina Marriott, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), said "anti-vaccination messages have been specifically targeted" at some ethnic and religious communities through mediums such as messaging service WhatsApp.

Meanwhile, Bristol City Council said working with Somali, Sudanese and Pakistani communities in schools, cafes and housing estates has helped to bring the city's coronavirus case numbers down. The council and its health partners focused on areas including Barton Hill, Lawrence Hill, Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston.

Deputy Mayor for communities Asher Craig said they had seen numbers "plummet" particularly in areas where there are significant BAME communities.