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Original poster

Not allowed to work unless you have had the vaccine?!

63 replies

Sophia777 · 17/02/2021 18:26

Hi, I’m a first time poster and would like peoples views so I can gain an understanding.
Recently, a nursing home chain have stated that no staff member will be able to work if they have not had the vaccine. The reason they say, is because people who have not been vaccinated will put others at risk.
I understand that the vaccine ONLY protects yourself - research shows that after the Pfizer vaccine you can still transmit the virus. Research regarding Oxford says it MAY lessen transmission by 23% - but as we all know, Africa want to send back 1 million doses because it does not work on the South African variant.
So am I missing something here?? Why is it so important for HC workers to be vaccinated if it can still be transmitted? It’s not like you will be passing on a less fatal strain by having the vaccine.
If it stopped transmission it would sort out the whole world, build herd immunity and all the rest. But as it stands we can all still be hosts because we can still transmit.
Can we still transmit when our bodies have produced natural antibodies from contracting COVID-19?
Help me fill in the blanks!

OP posts:
SecretOfChange · 17/02/2021 22:45

@ilikebooksandplants WTF? Reported.

Pinkmarsh · 17/02/2021 23:09

@ilikebooksandplants - no there us currently no requirements for any vaccinations in care homes. It’s recommended you have hepatitis B but it’s not compulsory.

Finding care staff is near on impossible at the best of times. This will make it even more difficult .

Pinkmarsh · 17/02/2021 23:17

Take up for the vaccine among nhs staff is 80%. Will the 20% not taking up the vaccine be unable to work too? I doubt it!

If care staff figures are similar, employers insisting on their staff having the vaccine will find it very difficult to staff their homes.

ilikebooksandplants · 18/02/2021 00:10

@SecretOfChange reported for what exactly?

@Pinkmarsh i said nursing staff, not care staff. It is not exactly a stretch to think this may be extended to care staff, given the horrendous deprivation of liberty that most people living in care homes have experienced in the last 12 months.

Porcupineintherough · 18/02/2021 00:16

I had to be vaccinated against tetanus, rabies and hepatitis to do my job and that was 20 years ago. Some jobs come w certain requirements.

SaskiaRembrandt · 18/02/2021 06:16

I had to be vaccinated against tetanus for a summer job as a teenager and that was about 150 years ago. Required vaccines are not unusual, and you do have a choice.

borntobequiet · 18/02/2021 06:32

Your OP is deliberately misleading and exaggerated.

Dongdingdong · 18/02/2021 06:37

Take up for the vaccine among nhs staff is 80%. Will the 20% not taking up the vaccine be unable to work too? I doubt it!

It should be compulsory for NHS staff IMO. Those who refuse to have the vaccine are putting patients’ lives at risk!

MyGazeboisLeaking · 18/02/2021 06:40

@ilikebooksandplants

It isn’t new for people in nursing jobs to have vaccination requirements. Presumably you weren’t upset by this before so I suggest you calm your tits now.

I take it you weren't highly placed in your uni debating team, @ilikebooksandplants !

"Calm your tits"? What a classy phrase.

Aposterhasnoname · 18/02/2021 06:45

What concerns me is the 10% on which the vaccine is not effective and the other % which are unable to have the vaccine for whatever reason, will be put at risk due to the vaccinated carriers

The vaccine is believed to be at, or close to, 100% effective at preventing serious illness or death, even for the 10% for whom it was “not effective”

MinesAPintOfTea · 18/02/2021 06:56

@Dongdingdong

Take up for the vaccine among nhs staff is 80%. Will the 20% not taking up the vaccine be unable to work too? I doubt it!

It should be compulsory for NHS staff IMO. Those who refuse to have the vaccine are putting patients’ lives at risk!

The guardian had an artucle yesterday about how the groups with low take-up are those who are typically too busy to eat lunch on their shift. The problem is partly just that they can't get to the vaccinations.
PinkTonic · 18/02/2021 07:32

Hi, I’m a first time poster and would like peoples views so I can gain an understanding

I don’t think ‘gaining an understanding’ is your reason for posting for the first time on MN and your thread title is hyperbolic. Your ‘research’ doesn’t seem to be particularly accurate either and your ‘reasoning’ follows the usual pattern adopted by the misinformation campaign.

DinosaurDiana · 18/02/2021 07:35

If they’re insisting all staff have the vaccine then they should insist all patients have the vaccine. That’s excusing those who are medically exempt.

bobbiester · 18/02/2021 07:35

@Sophia777

Thanks for your comments I understand that being the long term plan. What concerns me is the 10% on which the vaccine is not effective and the other % which are unable to have the vaccine for whatever reason, will be put at risk due to the vaccinated carriers - who will be passing the virus whilst asymptomatic. If a person has not received the vaccine they will more likely have symptoms, therefore getting tested and isolating, preventing the spread and therefore safeguarding the vulnerable.
Ah I see a new "vaccines put others at risk" line has been added to the anti-vax playbook.
GCAcademic · 18/02/2021 07:47

Ah I see a new "vaccines put others at risk" line has been added to the anti-vax playbook

Yep. Another transparent, faux naive “first time poster”.

mootymoo · 18/02/2021 07:53

It's imperative that those working with the most vulnerable (carers, healthcare, special schools etc) come forward for vaccination because whilst it's not perfect it offers a good level of protection and is the best we have. I'm waiting to get mine because I work with the elderly but don't officially fall into this category, worries me every day I have to be close to people. Latest predictions are that all adults should have both vaccine doses by August with the plan to offer booster shots in the autumn for those having the AZ now.

ilikebooksandplants · 18/02/2021 08:31

@MyGazeboisLeaking there is nothing to debate. The OP is misleading and mandatory vaccinations for certain jobs is not a new thing.

Your last point is barely worth responding to.

MyGazeboisLeaking · 18/02/2021 08:37

Obviously gone over your head, @ilikebooksandplants.

Using hideously vulgar phrases means to me that however valid your point, you won't be taken seriously.

ilikebooksandplants · 18/02/2021 08:42

@MyGazeboisLeaking then let the adults chat then while you clutch your pearls.

My point is valid and this OP is anti-vax bollocks dressed in faux concern about the transmission rate. I am not the only person who has pointed this out.

MyGazeboisLeaking · 18/02/2021 08:46

@ilikebooksandplants Grin as you were, dear.

Upwardtrajectory · 18/02/2021 08:53

"Take up for the vaccine among nhs staff is 80%. Will the 20% not taking up the vaccine be unable to work too? I doubt it!"

Please also bear in mind that this figure includes all NHS staff, not just frontline, patient facing staff. I work in the NHS but I haven't had my jab yet because I haven't worked in the hospital since March, and there are no plans for me to return yet so I haven't made the trip in to get it. But I will be included in the 20% figure, as are the majority of my colleagues.

partyatthepalace · 18/02/2021 09:00

If it’s any comfort OP I think vaccine passports are on the way way quicker than we think - it’s the only way cinemas, theatres, flying and a lot of work places will be able to function. So your workplace is just the vanguard.

poppycat10 · 18/02/2021 09:23

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

Ultimately the more people who are vaccinated, the better protected we will all be. The transmission levels will be at an acceptable level to go our normal life. Those who cannot have the vaccine are therefore protected. We have to stop seeing this as a personal level thing and start acting for the greater good so we can live freely again! It’s how all vaccines work.
Not how all vaccines work. It's now been documented that the AZ vaccine helps to reduce transmission but at the moment the main purpose of the covid vaccines are to reduce severity of illness, which makes it a personal decision (and responsibility for your own health).

If you work in care/healthcare I think you should be vaccinated but otherwise it's up to the person - and no, they don't owe it to the NHS to get vaccinated either - we don't punish people for smoking or drinking or being too fat or driving badly - we treat everyone regardless of stupidity level.

I take responsibility for my own health, I will be vaccinated when it's offered and I won't care what other people do. I know the vaccines aren't 100% effective but flu vaccines aren't either, but we don't make everyone have them and sack them if they won't or stop them going into shops or pubs.

Dongdingdong · 18/02/2021 09:31

The guardian had an artucle yesterday about how the groups with low take-up are those who are typically too busy to eat lunch on their shift. The problem is partly just that they can't get to the vaccinations.

What a load of rubbish. I know people who work 50-60 hour weeks who’ve managed to get theirs done!

Dongdingdong · 18/02/2021 09:32

If it’s any comfort OP I think vaccine passports are on the way way quicker than we think - it’s the only way cinemas, theatres, flying and a lot of work places will be able to function.

I hope so. Then the selfish anti vaxxers will be really scuppered!

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