Yes but since March last year I’ve seen countless threads where various groups see themselves as ‘no different from the NHS’ in the degree of PPE required.
So it’s unsurprising that those same groups think they should have the vaccine now ahead of people working in hospitals. It shows a basic lack of understanding of what NHS staff actually do, and as somebody has already pointed out, most people here are neither virologists nor epidemiologists.
There is also a worrying lack of basic understanding of the difference between potential threat, perceived threat and actual threat.
So, the NHS staff working on covid wards and ITU are dealing with actual threat. Known infection. Repeated exposure to viral load. They are putting tubes into peoples throats and noses and engaging in risky aerosol generating procedures, which increases their threat.
Those working on hospitals are subject to increased potential threat because hospitals are a known source of infection.
Those working for the NHS generally are on standby, even the ones working from home or in offices are subject to potential increased threat if they are redeployed to covid wards.
It’s useful to get some perspective and contrast this with other professions. People working in supermarkets, for example. They have a potentially higher risk than somebody working from home, however nobody is going to call them up to work on a covid ward with actual known threat.
Teachers have the potential threat from their students. Their threat is made worse by not wearing masks, so they should wear masks if they believe they work, however the flimsy clinical masks don’t seem terribly effective, so perhaps they should wear FFP3 masks - only these aren’t even worn on hospital wards, where the threat is higher.
The students are a potential threat, not an actual threat.
It’s a shame people dont understand how the NHS operates, or how close it always lies to collapse.