Ayny is part of a community of Muslim mums. When the pandemic first started, the mums in this group discussed what would happen. When the pandemic came to England, Ayny says that the mums became even more scared. She says, my instant reaction was to start thinking about my parents. Coming from an Asian Pakistani family, my father is diabetic, my mum is overweight. This was super scary for my parents. By contrast, Ayny was less worried about herself and her children.

Ayny’s husband is a teacher. She explains that he was ten steps ahead of the game in that he bought devices for her children so that they could still attend school remotely, and he himself moved his work online. While her husband was pretty calm, Ayny was panicking. She was wondering how she could cope with home-schooling three children. However, she found comfort through her religion.

Ayny says the pandemic was not all negative. She explains that because her family were all together she had the best Ramadan. She also says that she became closer to her Muslim faith during this time and felt a greater sense of community. She knows many refugees in her Muslim mum group and she would volunteer to shop, cook, and clean for them.

When the Covid vaccine came out, Ayny was unsure whether she would take it. She felt like she did not have enough information about the vaccine. What helped sway her decision to get the vaccine was her dad. Ayny explains that her dad recorded himself having the vaccine and shared it to local mosques. She says that it helped encourage Muslims to get the vaccine, especially Muslim men. Ayny’s mum also got the vaccine which also encouraged her decision to get the vaccine.