Hancock: Jab NHS staff before winter hits
Law should require health workers to be fully vaccinated, says former health secretary
NHS workers should be legally required to get Covid vaccinations before the winter, former health secretary Matt Hancock says today.
In his first major policy intervention since leaving Government, Mr Hancock writes in The Daily Telegraph to warn ministers against delaying mandatory jabs for nurses and doctors.
His comments will increase pressure on the Government to announce that the law will be changed within weeks to require Covid jabs for the NHS’S 1.45million staff in England.
Ministers are widely expected to say that the requirement will be adopted in spring 2022 – too late to impact the Covid pressures expected in the next few months.
However, in his article today Mr Hancock writes: “Having looked at all the evidence, I am convinced we must require vaccination for everyone who works not just in social care but the NHS – and get it in place as fast as possible... So, as we prepare to face a difficult winter, let’s use all the tools that we have to save lives.”
NHS industry bodies and Labour front-benchers have argued that pushing through the change in the coming weeks would risk a dangerous exodus of NHS staff over winter.
Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, warned yesterday that if the policy is wrongly adopted then “we risk a significant loss of a significant number of staff ”.
The law has already been changed to mandate Covid vaccinations for care workers in England, with the requirement due to come into effect on Thursday.
There were reports this weekend that some care home staff reluctant to get vaccinated are switching to work for the NHS instead, as it does not yet have the legal requirement.
In his article, Mr Hancock, who was the architect of the policy which sawvaccines made mandatory for care workers, explains why he thinks it should now apply to all NHS workers.
He points to France to show the policy can work, where the proportion of healthcare workers jabbed jumped from two-thirds to 99 per cent after vaccines were required.
Mr Hancock writes: “To me the logic is crystal clear. Medicine is founded on science – and the science of the Covid vaccine is comprehensively proven. Mandating the use of the best science isn’t controversial – it’s common sense.
“There are some people who say this isn’t the way we do things in Britain.
“But we already mandate vaccination against Hepatitis B for doctors. The British historic precedents for compulsory vaccination go back to the 1850s.”
Mr Hancock notes that nine in 10 NHS workers have been double vaccinated, but argues that while “wonderful” the figure is not high enough, calling getting jabbed a “moral duty”.
There is also a specific plea to sceptics of the policy to consider people in hospital who may be vulnerable to catching Covid because they are undergoing treatment for cancer.
“If you’re still not convinced, consider this.
“Our hospitals treat thousands of people who are not just vulnerable to Covid – but who have no defences at all because of the very treatment they are receiving from that hospital,” he writes.
“Imagine the cancer patient, already battling another deadly disease, being cared for by a nurse. Who can put their
hand on their heart and say they’d be happy to tell that patient their nurse could have the vaccine, but has chosen against all scientific and clinical advice to ignore it.
“So, as we prepare to face a difficult winter, let’s use all the tools that we have to save lives.”
Mr Hancock has made few public interventions since quitting as health secretary in June when he admitted breaking social distancing rules after being caught having an affair.
He held the health brief for the preceding three years, meaning he played a central role in the UK Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
There has been speculation that the Government has pushed back plans to announce its approach to mandating Covid jabs for the NHS amid internal debate about the policy.
A consultation on the plans for England could be announced tomorrow before Parliament breaks for a recess.
The approach on mandated jabs for NHS workers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland would be taken by devolved administration given that healthcare is a devolved policy area.