Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Staff not ‘boosted’ affecting whole team.

204 replies

Chanandlerbong1 · 06/01/2022 16:46

We are quite a large team and everyone except one has had their covid booster. She has had the first two vaccinations. Guidance has just been changed - so anyone who is a household contact can return to work if they meet certain conditions. Being boosted is one of them. She refuses to get the booster - unsure of her reasons - I haven’t asked as it’s none of my business. She has been off multiple times with symptoms and has taken multiple PCR tests - all of which have been negative. We all just roll our eyes now when we are told she is off again. Now they have been identified as a close contact - but will need to isolate as not boosted. We are stretched as it is and can’t help thinking less of this person! AIBU?

OP posts:
KittenCatcher · 06/01/2022 19:16

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

NinaProudman2022 · 06/01/2022 19:17

Totally agree with this below.

CruellaDeVilla

A local employer is paying full pay if someone is off with covid and HAS been boosted but only SSP to anyone who ISN’T boosted.

It sorts out the piss takers

Gwenhwyfar · 06/01/2022 19:19

@Chanandlerbong1

Of course it is affecting the whole team. Being a staff member down every couple of months for days at a time puts extra pressure and stress on all of us.
Then you are under-staffed to begin with. Surely somebody has a day off every couple of months anyway so you're not always at full capacity.
Franklin12 · 06/01/2022 19:21

There are an awful lot of people using the rules for their own ends.

lljkk · 06/01/2022 19:22

Does OP think "less" of this person because they repeatedly feign illness or (on a single occasion??) have had to isolate due to being an unboosted contact?

I'm not keeping up.

Whitefire · 06/01/2022 19:22

GAH, I'm on the fence here. I can see how frustrating it must be as a member of the team picking up the slack, I can well imagine the type of role where it isn't just a case of everyone else picking up that person's work as they have their own to do, but at the same time there are things that absolutely have to be covered. I agree with a pp though that covid rules are a slacker's charter and easily abused. There is no gatekeeping for a PCR and come next week all they have to do is self report a positive LFT and bingo they are off.

However unfortunately there is very little anyone else can drop, the booster issue is neither here nor there.

KittenCatcher · 06/01/2022 19:22

Noni, do you feel the same about smokers, drinkers, overweight people. Do you think the govt and health officials are selfish and fail in their civic duty when they dont provide adequate ppe and discharge positive patients into carehomes which then infects staff and residents..

lightisnotwhite · 06/01/2022 19:22

@Lollipop25

Wow just wow!😯 she didn't make the rules and she definitely doesn't need to appease you by getting a booster she obviously doesn't want. You'd want to get used to it, more and more people are declining the 3rd jab.
It’s not the lack of a 3rd booster that’s the problem it’s the frequent time off due to isolating for one reason or another. If I couldn’t do my job due to constantly having close contacts, I’d stay in more and take more care. As for symptoms the list is incredibly generic. That’s the point of LFT to pick it up before symptoms.
RampantIvy · 06/01/2022 19:27

Does OP think "less" of this person because they repeatedly feign illness or (on a single occasion??) have had to isolate due to being an unboostered contact?

I could foresee that if it was a frequent occurrence then the whole team might think less of her. They might begin to resent her.

traveltheworld1986 · 06/01/2022 19:29

I was contacted earlier this week because I was a close contact. She doesn't need to isolate because the first 2 vaccinations mean you are fully vaccinated. I checked this myself as I was due my booster the following day!

SuPerDoPer · 06/01/2022 19:34

The millionth mumsnet thread about someone doing covid wrong. Honestly I'm sick to the back teeth of 2 years of arguments about who is the best at isolating, social distancing, mask wearing, being vaccinated and testing. Instead of pointing the finger at this fucking godawful government we're bitching about our co-workers and neighbours for not jumping through fucking hoops every time the goalposts change. Get a grip.

PoleFairy · 06/01/2022 19:36

Tbh I dont blame her. I regret my booster.

  1. It fucks with your cycle so ttc is a nightmare as your period is all over the place, ovulation all over the place, you don't know what to expect
  2. I'm healthy, I'm 30, I've had 2 vaccinations (the second being in August) why on earth are they wasting a booster on me when there are countries of people not yet having had one vaccine and therefore allowing mutations. Booster the elderly and the clinically vulnerable yes but to waste a vaccine on healthy, double vaccinated people is ridiculous
IamaBluebird · 06/01/2022 19:36

People are taking time off and they’ve had the booster do you get just as annoyed at them.

lljkk · 06/01/2022 19:36

@traveltheworld1986

I was contacted earlier this week because I was a close contact. She doesn't need to isolate because the first 2 vaccinations mean you are fully vaccinated. I checked this myself as I was due my booster the following day!
don't say that, Travel, You're undermining the resentment festival. Tsk Tsk. Play the game right.
MissMaple82 · 06/01/2022 19:39

Maybe like me, she felt the pressure to follow the "norm" and reluctantly had the jab before having a 'what the fuck am I doing' moment and has now chosen to not bow down to the pressure and follow the crowd. YABU

Im2022 · 06/01/2022 19:41

I’m not getting the booster. By the time I get it, they’ll be offering 4th boosters..when is it going to end? This virus is mutating every 6 months or so. I’ll wait until they make a proper vaccine that will work for longer than 10 weeks.

YABU and quite rude for eye rolling if she’s isolating. Even those boosted and vaccinated are being asked to do this and take LFTs.

LethargicActress · 06/01/2022 19:44

Yabu, blame your employer.

Noni123 · 06/01/2022 19:53

Your obviously taking this argument to a different level. This is about when your behavior /choices impact directly on others. And actually as an aside the smokers drinkers & overweight are judged by the NHS & others . As for the PPE farce not enough was known about COVID at the time & mistakes were made that is not an excuse to be unvaccinated is it? What seems to be lost here is that nobody WANTS to be vaccinated I certainly didn't but this is some much more than individual wants & desires. It's about duty to the society that you want to live in with all its benefits -you can't keep taking sometimes you have to give & make sacrifices for the good of all. Something sadly lacking in the narrative of the anti vax brigade-it really is me me me

GaolBhoAlba · 06/01/2022 19:54

The whole thing has become unreasonable. One can only hope that, as soon as everyone eligible has had the opportunity of booster, asymptomatic people can live freely once again.

LostFrog · 06/01/2022 19:55

What was her attendance like before covid? If she is the sort of person who regularly takes the piss I can see why you would be annoyed.

user123974397375 · 06/01/2022 19:55

@Noni123

Interesting & varied comments on this thread. It's not really about someone not coming into work. This is about pulling together in this holy mess called covid-not relying on others to cover for you. It's about your civic duty to others & unless you have a valid reason not to be fully vaccinated then you SHOULD be. When are people going to realise it is not just about you -there are far too many damn selfish people in this country. They won't get vaccinated but the minute they are unwell they expect the NHS to bail them out.All very well questioning the science but I don't hear them questioning the science when the NHS is fighting for their lives! I am all for free choice but also think if you've made your bed you lye on it & get on with it. It's time the government got much heavier with these individuals -I would certainly support measures to perhaps charge these individuals higher levels of taxation to help cover the extra strain they are putting on the country-.those who have valid reasons would obviously be exempt-& this group obviously need everyone else to be vaccinated to keep them as safe as possible. Its time to live with the consequences of your choice & not expect the rest of us to support your selfish choices in any form-either at work or at leisure. If your choice is to be part of the problem & not part of the solution then expect that society will decide & will judge-whine all you like it's called consequences. Live with it-Oh & OP YANBU
Well, OP's colleague is actually opposite of selfish - she gets tested when she has symptoms and isolate until the result, you know TO PROTECT THE VULNERABLE, so your whole tirade is pointless.
llansannan11 · 06/01/2022 19:58

It seems like someone using the rules for their own ends, though I am not sure that there is much or anything you can do about it.

Exceptionalism like this has a role model, the Prime Minister.

Original poster
Chanandlerbong1 · 06/01/2022 20:02

@LostFrog
I honestly have no idea.

OP posts:
canary1 · 06/01/2022 20:04

I think there are plenty of people taking advantage in this way. It’s a disgrace but hard to see how it can be solved. It shouldn’t be left to the rest of the team but of course it is.

mumshouse · 06/01/2022 20:07

Don't hate the player... I bet some of your colleagues are miffed they missed out on this loophole.