Care worker is resigned to losing her job this week after refusing Covid vaccine
LOUISE, 36, HAS RECEIVED MESSAGES OF SUPPORT FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY
A HULL woman is resigned to losing her job as a care worker this week because of her refusal to be vaccinated against coronavirus.
Louise Akester’s last shift will take place on Saturday, five days before a law brought in by the Government will require all adult care home workers to be double vaccinated, unless they have valid medical exemptions.
The Government is also looking set to extend the mandatory vaccination requirement to NHS workers in early 2022, a move opposed by the trade union Unison.
Last week, Louise, 36, shared with Hull Live her heartbreak at leaving a job she “absolutely loved” because of her refusal to be vaccinated at this time.
Her story has since been shared across the UK.
She has become the face of the 40,000 England care workers who will no longer be able to work in care homes from November 11, because they have chosen not to be double vaccinated.
“I’ve been swarmed by messages of support and thanks,” said Louise.
“They’ve contacted me from all over nationally, not just Hull.
“Some in the Hull area want to meet up in the future and compare notes on our experiences.
“It’s nice to know I’m not alone, that there’s other people in my shoes.
“I wish we had something much nicer in common, but it is what it is.”
The 36-year-old, who has worked in the care sector for 14 years, said that she’d also received a lot of abusive comments, but “I haven’t let that faze me”.
She remains defiant on not getting vaccinated currently, although with the required wait between first and second vaccinations, she would be out of a job if she changed her mind now, anyway.
“I’ve been praying for a miracle, I suppose,” she said. “In all fairness, I’m not expecting it.”
She still doesn’t know what her career plans are after her final shift at Alderson House, Hull, this week.
But she is aware of the Government’s plans
to extend the mandatory vaccination requirement to NHS workers, which has put her off trying to go down that route.
“This was my issue. I expect that they will try to mandate it there and I don’t want to go through it again,” Louise said.
Unison has nearly half a million members who work in the NHS and are also concerned by the plans to make Covid-19 and flu vaccinations mandatory for NHS staff.
Ray Gray, Unison regional officer for health in North Yorkshire and East Riding, said of the Government’s plans to extend the mandatory vaccination requirement: “The proposed law has just finished a six-week consultation process and we believe will be finished and become law just before the Christmas break, although it would not be enacted until early next year.
“We believe that informed decision is better than enforcement.
“The NHS suffers from the same recruitment and retention issues as our colleagues in care homes have, and we can ill afford to lose staff over the vaccine.
“We have already contacted the lead employers for the area and asked what their intentions are when the legislation does come in and we are looking at ways with the employer to try and retain staff.”
“If we are unable to find a way forward with the employer, when the legislation is enacted some staff may well have to face the stark choice between the vaccine and a change in career and there will be very little that we can do to stop it.”
Louise said: “I don’t see how it will work. “For me, it’s going to make it much worse.”
It’s nice to know I’m not alone, that there’s other people in my shoes
Louise Akester