55% WANT COMPULSORY JABS

And MoS poll reveals over half of us want vaccine to be compulsory for every adult

VOTERS back the use of vaccine passports and overwhelmingly support compulsory j abs for critical key workers, an exclusive Mail on Sunday poll has found.

The survey also revealed widespread concerns over the low take- up of the vaccine among some ethnic-minority groups.

The Deltapoll research found that 54 per cent of people support the use of some form of identification document to show that the holder has antibodies to Covid-19

– either from the vaccine or having contracted the virus – as a condition of entry to venues such as restaurants or public transport. The idea is opposed by 30 per cent, a fall from the 39 per cent who objected just a month ago.

Meanwhile, three-quarters said they would be very comfortable having to prove they had been vaccinated before being allowed in certain public places. Only one in 12 is very uncomfortable with the idea.

There is even greater support for the use of vaccine passports for international travel, with 64 per cent supporting them to leave the UK and 67 per cent to enter the country.

Fears over short- and long-term effects of Covid have largely overridden concerns about both the side effects of the jab and potential civilliberties implications of enforcing inoculation: 39 per cent worry most about the health impact of Covid, compared with ten per cent who worry most about the side effects.

The survey reflects anecdotal evidence that the vaccine produces discernible side effects in many people, but usually only mild ones: 40 per cent of those who have had the jab said they had experienced effects, but only two per cent had ‘ major’ reactions.

The proportion of people who believe the vaccine is safe has increased from 68 per cent in November when the first inoculations were announced to 78 per cent now.

A majority of people think that it should be compulsory for all adults to be vaccinated (55 per cent against 30 per cent) while 64 per cent echo the Queen’s words in arguing that people who choose not to have the jab are ‘selfish’. A total of 77 per cent say those people are putting the wider population at risk.

The low take- up of the vaccine among certain ethnic- minority groups is a concern for 69 per cent, with just 25 per cent disagreeing.

The public have largely made up their minds where they stand on the need for key workers to be compelled to take the vaccine: an overwhelming 81 per cent think it should be compulsory for doctors, nurses and care home workers to have it.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland is supporting the move in care homes after figures showed that nearly one in three staff there have not been vaccinated. Mr Buckland said there was an ‘ obvious rationale’ for the policy, particularly given that in some areas, such as London, nearly half of staff have not been vaccinated. He said: ‘In a care home, in a closed environment where there are vulnerable residents, I would argue there does seem to be an obvious rationale.’

However, he added that a certificate scheme would ‘ depend very much on each setting and the particular context’, in accordance with the ‘fundamental fact that vaccines are not compulsory here in the UK’.

The Deltapoll survey also shows strong support for the idea that other key workers should be forced to have the vaccine as a condition of employment, including police officers (78 per cent), teachers (77 per cent), bus drivers (71 per cent), restaurant workers (68 per cent), delivery drivers (65 per cent) and supermarket workers (71 per cent).

The poll shows that people support the mandatory use of masks, with four out of five people thinking they should be compulsory in public places indoors, and 67 per cent saying they should be obligatory in all public places, both indoors and outdoors.

In terms of their attitude to the future, people are generally adopti ng a stance of cautious optimism. While 29 per cent think their household finances will improve over the next year, 18 per cent say they will deteriorate. And most people have ruled out the idea of a summer holiday: only 30 per cent say they are planning one, while 54 per cent are not bothering until the shape of future social-distancing restrictions becomes clearer.

Fear of t he pandemic i s also moderating – the 84 per cent who described themselves last month as worried has dropped to 77 per cent.

Deltapoll interviewed 1,527 British adults online between February 24 and 26. The data has been weighted to represent the whole population.

THERE are few more inspiring events than a major medical breakthrough. Almost overnight, a new discovery removes the fear of a previously terrifying disease. Formerly vital precautions rapidly become obsolete. Life in general is easier and happier.

Again and again, over the past two centuries, human ingenuity and determination have conquered or driven back many scourges. While it is almost impossible now even to imagine the world before penicillin, there are people still living who remember when tuberculosis was a death sentence for many, or when smallpox still raged in many parts of the world.

Our defeats of sickness are events at least as great in world history as the military victories over tyrants and would-be invaders which we also rightly celebrate. So the whole country should be feeling a glow of satisfaction over the amazingly rapid development of vaccines against the Covid virus, and the growing evidence that these immunisations are providing very high levels of protection. Those who have cast doubt on the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, especially among EU leaders jealous of British independent success, now look rather foolish as the research comes in.

But even these scoffers will in the end be pleased to have been wrong. The liberation of the whole European continent from curfews, lockdowns, travel bans, school closures and the rest of the Covid miseries is now in sight, and this must soon spread to the rest of the world. Yet remember just a few months ago when almost every expert in the world said there was no guarantee that any such inoculation could be successfully developed at all, let alone with such rapidity.

But amid any such triumph, there are also problems. Victory, even over a disease, brings its difficulties. One of these is the reluctance of some British citizens to accept the jab. Unscrupulous, foolish and irresponsible people have for months been spreading lies and misinformation about the alleged dangers of vaccinations. It would be surprising if such propaganda had not found an audience in an age when falsehoods can hurtle around the internet before the truth has booted up its computer.

So how should we tackle this? The Mail on Sunday’s Deltapoll survey today shows very strong majority backing for the vaccine, and indeed for strong measures which might place pressure on those who are reluctant to be immunised.

Some may find this attractive and there are certainly reasonable arguments for requiring vaccination for certain professions and certain types of travel. Even so, experience suggests that people do not respond well to bullying or pressure in such matters. If people are being asked to do something for their own good, or for the good of others, then it should be possible to persuade them into it.

Knowledge, persuasion and example, preferably at community level, are surely the best way to do this. Where any group of people is reluctant to receive the vaccination, the most effective way of persuading them will be if locally respected figures, preferably known to them personally, give the lead, both in words and in action.

It is at the small-scale and personal level that the battle for maximum uptake will be won. And those not immediately convinced in the first wave may well change their minds too, when they see the painless benefits spreading all around them among friends, colleagues and neighbours. Patience, generosity, example – these are the best ways of getting people to do the right thing.