Document is current

Article History

Received: 12 November 2024

Accepted: 18 November 2025

First Online: 27 February 2026

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: This work was undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and it was part of the authors’ day-to-day duties in responding to the pandemic with specific focus on Afghan nationals. Experience of frontline professionals on COVID response has been shared extensively to expand our knowledge and help in future pandemics. The authors had no access to individual patient identifiable information, and the data was dealt in aggregate. Hence ethical approval was neither sought nor required as it is considered as routine public health work and not a research project. It is also in line with our institutional research governance framework which only requires ethical approval for original research. Our research governance framework can be accessed here. .

: The Afghan nationals were receiving from the public health team as part of a supportive package which included both preventive and curative COVID 19 management. Any required consent for interventions such as vaccinations and or treatment was obtained by the clinicians as per standard National Health Service (NHS) protocols. As they were receiving services as part of outbreak management, ethical consent was neither sought nor required which is the standard procedure in managing outbreaks. All necessary NHS, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Local Authority informed consent procedures were strictly adhered to. NHS consent procedure is available. .