A man who lost his voice after taking the Covid vaccine is urging for more help for people after they are vaccinated.

Forty-eight-year-old Shahid Malik said he was called to Blackburn Cathedral on March 5 to take the vaccine and two days later lost his voice.

Despite this, he says he does not want to put anyone off taking the vaccine and urged people to take it as gives you the best protection against coronavirus.

The vaccines approved for use in the UK have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). These normally include a sore arm where the needle went in; feeling tired; a headache; feeling achy and feeling or being sick.

Here is the government's official advice for everyone taking a vaccine.

Mr Malik said: “I still don't have my normal voice back. I have been ringing for the doctors and hospitals and can't even get an appointment to see anyone.

“I want my story of how I am suffering and the lack of help and support.”

Mr Malik’s voice was very high pitched when he spoke to us.

He said before the vaccine he was feeling great and told us: “I was fine before the vaccine. My voice went within 48 hours of having the vaccine. I woke up on Sunday morning and my voice had gone.

“I had shakes on the night of having the vaccine. I am suffering from shortness of breath just from walking and doing normal household activities.

“There is no sore throat and I have no other side-effects.

“I would urge others to note your symptoms down if you can and report them online to the yellow card scheme run by MHRA.”

Mr Malik said, “I am concerned about not getting any help for me and for people suffering from the side effects.

“I do think there needs to be more support for people after the vaccine. As not everyone is going to react the same way. I think it is important for the health authorities to look into this support for people like me.

“I have not been able to get any help.”

Imams have joined health professionals in urging people from across the community to take the vaccine.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have said that the jab is safe and have encouraged people to take up their vaccine appointments.

The WHO’s advisory committee on vaccine safety issued a formal statement on Friday saying the vaccine “continues to have a positive benefit-risk profile, with tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths across the world”.

Countries including France, Germany and Italy began restarting their vaccine programmes with the AstraZeneca jab – reversing earlier decisions to suspend them over blood clot concerns.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is 79% effective at preventing Covid-19 and offers 100% protection against severe disease, new data from a US-led trial has shown.

The results showed that among people aged 65 and over, there was 80% protection against developing Covid-19. The degree of effectiveness against symptomatic Covid-19 was even higher than observed in the Oxford-led clinical trials.

A total of 25,476,409 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and March 21, according to NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 325,777 on the previous day.

NHS England said 23,854,862 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 295,359 on the previous day, while 1,621,547 were a second dose, an increase of 30,418.