Health Minister Nadine Dorries says she opposes the idea of care home staff being forced to take Covid vaccines. MailOnline has the story.
The Government last month launched a consultation into whether mandatory vaccines for carers would work and be ethical, with a final decision expected by July.
Ms Dorries’ boss, Matt Hancock, has publicly endorsed the proposal, arguing that care home staff have a “duty of care” to elderly residents most vulnerable to Covid.
Quizzed about the plans on LBC radio this morning, Ms Dorries said: “Would I force people to be vaccinated? No I wouldn’t force people to be vaccinated.”
… Latest NHS England figures released last month suggested about 78.9% of care home staff nationwide have had the jab. But in 17 local authority areas, fewer than 70% have received a first dose.
When the consultation was announced on April 14th, Mr Hancock claimed care home bosses were united in their calls for a “no jab, no job” policy. A final decision on whether to force staff to be vaccinated is expected by July.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman previously accepted it would be “discriminatory” to force anyone to be vaccinated.
Documents leaked in March revealed that both the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary “agreed – in order to reach a position of much greater safety for care recipients – to put in place legislation to require vaccinations among the workforce“. Similar requirements are being considered for healthcare workers, such as those who work on hospital wards, according to reports – but there has been a good amount of opposition to the idea within the health profession.
The Royal College of Nursing, which has a membership of 450,000 registered nurses, said last month that health and social care staff should not be “coerced” into having a Covid vaccine, and the Royal College of General Practitioners, representing over 50,000 British GPs, said a mandatory rollout would only lead to “resentment and mistrust”.
The MailOnline report is worth reading in full.
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