‘No one should be left out’ as city backs vaccines for all
City councillors have backed a national campaign calling on the Government to ensure the Covid-19 vaccine is accessible to everyone.
The ‘Vaccines for All’ campaign seeks to ensure safe access to the jab for any person, regardless of immigration status, ID or proof of address.
A motion on the issue was discussed at a recent full meeting of Sunderland City Council.
This included backing calls for the Government to ensure the vaccine “works for everyone” and to seek to address the “specific barriers” faced by marginalised groups, including migrant communities, people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities.
The motion also referenced “longstanding and entrenched barriers to healthcare”, with an example including migrants being deterred from seeking medical care over fears their data could be shared with the Home Office.
Councillors heard more than 300 organisations, including councils, health bodies, charities, GP surgeries and trade unions, had already backed the Vaccines for All campaign.
Councillor Kelly Chequer, Sunderland City Council’s cabinet member for Healthy City, introduced the vaccine motion to full council.
She said the campaign aimed to “directly address fear and mistrust and begin to restore the confidence in the NHS for communities that
have previously been excluded from care.”
However opposition Conservative councillors proposed an amendment to the motion, which was described as a ‘safety first approach.’
Concerns included the risk of nurses being asked to administer vaccines without knowing a patient’s medical history and other issues such as language barriers.
Cllr Antony Mullen, Conservative group leader, said the amendment to the motion would “add safeguards”
for nurses and the council’s reputation, in the event that a professional body opposes the Vaccines for All campaign at a later stage.
C ll rD ian ne Snow don, who recently returned to the NHS to work as a vaccinator at the Nightingal Hospital North East, said :" Without this vaccinebeing accessible to everyone it does not protect us all, we all need to be vaccinated. No one should be left out.”
The amended motion received support from all political groups.