Care home doses may be compulsory
MANDATORY Covid vaccinations may be required by all care home staff in England to help protect elderly residents, the Government has said.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has launched a consultation on making jabs a condition of employment for workers.
In parts of the country, care home staff vaccination rates are below 70 per cent.
Scientists insist rates need to be above 80 per cent, with 90 per cent of residents vaccinated, to provide the minimum level of protection. Only 53 per cent of care homes in England are meeting this threshold, according to the DHSC.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Older people living in care homes are most at risk of suffering serious consequences of Covid-19 and we have seen the grave effects the virus has had on this group.
“Making vaccines a condition of employment is something many care homes have called for, to help them provide greater protection for staff and residents, and so save lives.
“The vaccine is already preventing deaths and is our route out of this pandemic.
“We have a duty of care to those most vulnerable to Covid-19, so it is right we consider all options to keep people safe.”
The five-week consultation will seek views on the proposal and how it could be implemented.
THE issue of compulsory vaccines is one which is bound to cause controversy. In all these debates around the vaccine – whether it be compulsion or carrying proof of having received it – there is the question of personal freedom being balanced out against public health concerns.
But as the Government launches a consultation on whether it should be mandatory for care home staff it is hard not to be attracted to the case that they should all have the jab unless they have a medical condition which makes it unsafe.
After all, care homes are full of eldery residents most of whom have underlying health conditions. They are by definition the most vulnerable to coronavirus even after being vaccinated.
It seems reasonable to insist that those employed to care for these individuals should be vaccinated and therefore be less likely to transmit the virus.
While the moral case for care workers having the vaccine is strong, this would be the first time a vaccine compulsion has been brought into law since 1898.
What needs to be clear is that such a move would not be a Trojan horse for wider compulsion which would be unlikely to win public support. We have seen the authoritarian blanket “no vaccine, no job” policy introduced in New Zealand and companies in the UK are reportedly wanting similar measures.
It would seem better for the message to go out loud and clear that the vaccine is safe and adults should take it for their own health and the protection of others.