Care worker who refused Covid jab is now working in Lidl
ACARE worker of 15 years has told how she now works in Lidl after she had to quit her job because she refuses to have the Covid vaccine.
Ruslana Mironova said there would be staffing crises in the care industry and in the NHS because of the rule.
It comes as Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced NHS staff would have to be double jabbed by April 1, 2022, too.
At present 103,000 NHS staff have not had even the first Covid jab.
There are around 32,000 care workers who have not had the jab either, and as of today they will not be allowed to work in care homes or care settings.
Care workers were given a couple of months to get their jabs when the enforcement was announced in September but Ruslana, from Bristol, said she resigned on the day in September when that order came in.
The 46-year-old had worked as a care assistant for 15 years, ten years in Cyprus and the past five years in Bristol. She worked through the pandemic and for the past year at Badminton Place, the luxury £10 million ‘all-inclusive’ care home that opened in Patchway on September 1, 2020.
“I’m very disappointed, it’s very sad,” said Ruslana. “I’ve worked as a carer for 15 years and it is a job that I love. It should be our choice whether to have the vaccination or not.
“I worked through the pandemic when at the start they were sending patients out of hospitals without testing them and they had Covid and we weren’t given the right PPE. The Government didn’t think much about the safety of patients or carers then.
“I care about the people I care for, and I’m really disappointed with the Government, not with my managers – they have no choice either,” she added.
Since leaving the job, Ruslana said she looked for work in the NHS before taking a job at Lidl.
“It was difficult. What could I say when asked why I left care work after 15 years? So I have changed my career by 360 degrees.
“I am not afraid of speaking out on this. It’s not fair for the 30,000 carers who have left their job and it’s not fair for the people being cared for. There is already a shortage of carers and NHS staff and now the Government
is creating an even bigger problem,” she added.
The Government said the science indicates having the Covid-19 vaccination reduces the risk of catching and transmitting the virus, so reduces the risk of staff passing the virus on to residents and patients in care homes or care settings.
All the health authorities and medical experts in the UK have confirmed that the various Covid-19 vaccinations licensed to be used in Britain are safe for use, provide people with protection from catching and transmitting Covid, and drastically reduce the chances, if a vaccinated person does catch Covid-19, of the virus leading to hospitalisation or death.
The Health Secretary said the same rule that mandates the Covid vaccine for NHS workers has had an effect with care home workers.
Since it was announced in June the numbers of unvaccinated care staff in England has dropped from 88,000 to 32,000, he told Parliament.
But Ruslana said she fears for the care industry now. “I feel all this with my heart.
“The problem is that now the Government are creating an even bigger staffing shortage,” she added.