Telegraph is reporting vaccine to be compulsory for care home workers

[bathsh3ba]

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/03/22/care-home-staff-face-compulsory-covid-vaccination/

I feel quite uncomfortable with the idea of making any vaccine compulsory....

Thoughts?

There are several vaccinations you must have had to work in healthcare - for example, Hepatitis B. You will be vaccinated for them by occupational health services as required.

I know several people in care homes and 3 that have died this past year of covid in them, this can't come soon enough!

Everyone should be having the vaccine, but those in caring settings working with the most vulnerable should be compulsory

I don't like the idea of making any vaccine compulsory either. Where will that end? Surely then they'd have to make flu jabs compulsory, and pneumonia?

Slippery slope. And not a good one.

Yeah I had to have Hep B to work in a care home. I think it’s a good thing not to spread diseases to vulnerable people. Who may not be able to have the vaccine.

If you work as a nurse or dr there is already mandatory vaccination

What about the residents and visitors should it not then be the same for them?

I saw two care home owners on television talking about this a couple of weeks ago. One said he wouldn't take on new staff unless they were vaccinated. The other said he would give existing workers a grace period and if they weren't vaccinated, unless they had a genuine reason not to be, he would stop offering them shifts. These were owners of multiple homes.
If you had family in a care home I expect you would be grateful for either approach.

@MichelleScarn

Yes it should be, but in the immunocompromised it doesn't always work sufficiently so they rely on caregivers being vaccinated as well. Visitors should too, but less of an issue if they aren't close

Very slippery slope - travel next, then school. Just wait...

I just don’t get any care/social/medical staff don’t believe in a science based approach like a vaccine - so weird

That is true regarding Hep B. When one of my family members had to get it through occupational health I didn't even give it a thought. They were also required to prove they had had BCG and if they hadn't would be expected to pay for it themselves.

I’m uncomfortable with it as well.

YABU. Mandatory vaccinations for care home workers have been in place for decades already in multiple countries. It’s plain common sense. What is it about this particular vaccination that has you scared?

I'm just amazed how the existing NHS requirement to be vaccinated (or to be moved to other duties without contact with those particularly vulnerable) is so little known.

Thus is not a new thin-end-of-a-wedge. It's current practice that has been around for decades. Somewhat more in the spotlight, of course.

But I think our elderly and vulnerable deserve to have the safest possible environment. Protective measures aren't perfect, but that doesn't mean they should be optional as well

The most vulnerable elderly have suffered enough, isolated from loving human contact almost completely. I support anything that makes these places safer. On top of that, why anyone would want to risk a mass outbreak in the care home they work for is beyond me.

One word: GOOD!

There are already mandatory vaccinations for certain jobs, and for entry to certain countries. With good reason. I can't get het up about one more.

Vaccines are mandatory for NHS & Care Home staff already, this is nothing new. So those bleating about it being a slippery slope just sound daft.

Vaccines to go abroad to certain countries are also a requirement. We’ve all happily done it for years you know, so we don’t get horrible diseases & bring them back to the U.K. . 🙄 but oh right, that was so we selfishly could have a nice holiday to Mexico.. so that’s OK.

Slippery slope, care home workers are overworked and underpaid. To take away their autonomy is dangerous and many will just walk away exacerbating the existing shortage of staff.

Yeah I had to have Hep B to work in a care home. I think it’s a good thing not to spread diseases to vulnerable people

I would not send my elderly relatives to any care home where the staff were not all fully vaccinated. So yes, this is sensible.

Good. Any care worker who doesn't have the vaccine needs the word 'care ' taken from their job title.

In the comments on the Telegraph article various people were saying they work in health care and vaccines are not compulsory. What is the legislation that makes it compulsory and for what jobs?

I think I'm mainly concerned because it's yet another U turn - both Johnson and Hancock have previously said vaccines won't be compulsory. And their own analysis suggests it could lead to many leaving the care industry.

I suppose if it was only for certain roles and there was an option to be redeployed to a different role it wouldn't be so bad.

@Arrowheart

Good. Any care worker who doesn't have the vaccine needs the word 'care ' taken from their job title.

And that is how we get away with treating care workers like rubbish.

Bad pay, bad conditions, but they should ‘care’ so it’s okay. And it’s women’s work anyway, right?

In an ideal world it wouldn't need to be compulsory, because everyone in the position of caring for vulnerable people would be vaccinated at the first possible opportunity, barring genuine medical contraindications. If you're not prepared to do that then you shouldn't be working in that field.
I trained in the '80s, there was no question of refusing the relevant vaccinations.

It's more likely a condition of employment than law