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Covid

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Original poster

Colleague who does not want to get vaccinated

272 replies

JennieLee · 20/05/2021 10:08

I've recently returned to work in a venue that has been closed because of Covid.

Was chatting with various colleagues about whether they'd had first and/or second jabs and one person who is of mature years - and rather anxious - said they weren't having vaccinations, though they 'weren't an anti-vaxxer.'

One of my other colleagues says this is because they have a condition which affects their immune system. I was already aware of this condition but on looking it up, the official medical body says there is no reason why people with this condition should be adversely affected by the vaccine. The official advice is to have it.

It seems to me that by working in proximity with her over prolonged periods I am at increased risk of carrying the vaccine and infecting others. (I've had both jabs.)

Is there anything I can do, I wonder...?

OP posts:

ClaudiaWankleman · 20/05/2021 11:58

But I think my concern is also for the colleague.

No it's not. Don't gaslight backpedal.

MichelleScarn · 20/05/2021 11:59

@JennieLee

But I think my concern is also for the colleague. If her immune system isn't good, if the vaccine is less effective for her, why has she been put back in the front line?

If she picks up Covid it is also likely to have a more serious effect on her...

of course it is you absolutely sound like you have her best interests at heart

now that not everyone wants her to be fired and placed in the village square stocks

Original poster

JennieLee · 20/05/2021 12:00

The colleague told me about her condition a year or so back when taking medication in the staffroom. She has to self-medicate frequently. Everyone knows. It's no secret

And it was a condition which I was once tested for during a period of ill health, so despite its relative rarity, I already knew something about it.

OP posts:

Interestedparty132 · 20/05/2021 12:01

God, why are people who are normally pro-choice and boldily autonomy so willing to let that go out of the window when it comes to the Covid vaccine. Its long-term effects are untested and the advice on who gets the AZ jab has changed from the outset, not to mention that it's been banned in some countries. Why are people so keen to trust 'official advice' that changes regularly as more facts are discovered? I am not an anti-vaxxer but I also fully understand why some people are reluctant and, as we don't live in North Korea, it's entirely up to them whether they have the vaccine.

twelly · 20/05/2021 12:02

I think it is freedom of choice - people can choose to get vaccinated or not, we don't always know or understand people reasons and they don't need to explain them

Ridingthegravytrain · 20/05/2021 12:02

The unvaccinated are dangerous...but not in the way the vaccinated believe. They are the control study.

CombatBarbie · 20/05/2021 12:03

But if she lied and said she'd had it you would be none the wiser.

shewalkslikerihanna · 20/05/2021 12:04

@JennieLee

Not carrying the vaccine. The virus. Typo.

As in the advice to behave with caution even once you've been vaccinated because you can still carry/pass on Covid, despite having some protection oneself.

So I am behaving with caution. And the workplace has made appropriate adjustments. But if I'm expected to work in a proximity of less than 2m with someone who hasn't - for reasons that aren't immediately clear - got vaccinated, then managements other adjustments may not really be wholly effective.

It would be possible for management to arrange for the person to work from home. Or for them to work in an area of the building where they had less proximity to colleagues and vulnerable members of the public.

I am curious as to why this has not been done, despite the building been ventilated, PCs being sanitised regularly etc etc...

People have a right to choose to get vaccinated. But do they have a right to put others at risk?

Bloomin heck! You don’t give in do you Even when you’ve been handed your arse on a plate.

It’s her body ! Her choice!

If you’ve never been In couples / relationship counselling, let me give you this tip as a free gift

You can’t change others behaviour.
You can only change your response to it.

And that doesn’t include being a snitch ( to management), a sneak ( around their behaviour) or being grossly unpleasant.

MotherOfGodWeeFella · 20/05/2021 12:05

@MaxNormal

This is why I lie now.

Lying is worse than refusing the vaccine.

UsedUpUsername · 20/05/2021 12:08

@JennieLee

Weirdly enough since Covid swept through my father in law's care home killing a high proportion of the residents and the manager's partner, I have felt a certain amount of concern about this condition. As if, our choices do actually have significant impact on one another.

But not in the deeply selfish world of Mumsnet trolls it appears. I pity some of you. And I fear for you.

You work in an office, not a care home full of nonagenarians. FFS

shewalkslikerihanna · 20/05/2021 12:11

@DShrute

I never comment on the corona threads but I am getting to the point now where if anyone mentions it again, I will want to know their lifestyle, exercise, diet, size and weight. Then I can make a decision on what sort of risk to the NHS they might be.

You missed out age haha Don’t forget age Oh and just to be sure ethnicity What about gender Definitely blood group as well 😂

ChloeCrocodile · 20/05/2021 12:12

@coachmylife

lots of countries require kids to have had childhood vaccines to go to school.

most countries require doctors and dentists to have Hep vaccines.

How and why is this case so different?

Many of us choose to live in a country where the right to accept or decline medical treatment is considered really important.

Lots of countries don't allow abortion or criminalise same sex relationships. That doesn't mean we should follow suit!

Original poster

JennieLee · 20/05/2021 12:13

You don't have a clue where I work.

Much more contact with the public than an office. Many elderly and vulnerable service users.

Strong Health and Safety/Risk assessment culture. So I am puzzled.

OP posts:

Turquoisesea · 20/05/2021 12:14

I don’t get this obsession with people asking about other peoples vaccination status. It’s no one else’s business. I think we are on a very slippery slope when people are ostracised for not taking a vaccine that is absolute their own personal choice to do so. I’ve had my vaccine but one of my very good friends hasn’t, it is absolutely her choice, I will still be meeting her for coffee and seeing her because her vaccine status has nothing to do with me. I don’t believe she’s putting me or anyone else at risk, she has more risk as she’s unvaccinated but that is her choice to make not mine.

SakuraEdenSwan1 · 20/05/2021 12:16

@JennieLee

But I think my concern is also for the colleague. If her immune system isn't good, if the vaccine is less effective for her, why has she been put back in the front line?

If she picks up Covid it is also likely to have a more serious effect on her...

Frontline me arse, I work with lots of HCP who also declined the vaccine and worked throughout. Get a grip you are being goady intentionally or you are the Daily Fail looking for views for a headline.

Moondust001 · 20/05/2021 12:16

@JennieLee

The colleague told me about her condition a year or so back when taking medication in the staffroom. She has to self-medicate frequently. Everyone knows. It's no secret

And it was a condition which I was once tested for during a period of ill health, so despite its relative rarity, I already knew something about it.

You are deliberately missing the entire point of what people are telling you.

It does not matter that you know about her condition. It does not matter that everyone knows about her condition It is her condition and it is her business to mange the condition and to consider and manage the risks of anything including whether or not the vaccine is something that she should take.

Wow, you were once tested for this condition so you know something about it The fact that you had a test and did some googling is entirely meaningless. You do not know how this condition presents in her, you do not know what else she may be dealing with, what medications and interactions there may be, or anything else. These things are matters between her and her medical advisors, of which you are not one.

To be clear, you have one role, and one role only in this matter. Shut the fuck up, mind your own business, do not bully colleagues for failing to act in the way that you think they should, and observe the employers guidance on maintaining social restrictions until told otherwise. If you don't like any of that, you can ask your employer to make you to work at home in isolation because you aren't willing to work with colleagues you don't approve of, and shortly after telling them that you can start looking for the other job that you will need after they hand you your arse in a sling. Was that clear enough for you?

SakuraEdenSwan1 · 20/05/2021 12:18

@MichelleScarn I saw your name in The Daily Mail on Tuesday regarding another MN thread!!!

Ratatattatpat · 20/05/2021 12:20

It's nothing to do with you. You are vaccinated. Keep on walking.

JingsMahBucket · 20/05/2021 12:24

@strangeshapedpotato

Incidentally, you're going to get all the covid-deniers and anti-vaxxers weighing in on this thread so expect quite a bit of flaming.

Yeah, seriously. @JennieLee this thread is already full of anti-vaxxers and covid deniers. Try to sift through the dross to get to the real advice. I would even ask your colleague if it's something her health team had recommended to her. Pose it as just so you can understand her situation more and if you need to take care being around her, etc.

SakuraEdenSwan1 · 20/05/2021 12:24

@JennieLee

You don't have a clue where I work.

Much more contact with the public than an office. Many elderly and vulnerable service users.

Strong Health and Safety/Risk assessment culture. So I am puzzled.

You clearly do not work anywhere essential if it's only just reopened.

hparkins · 20/05/2021 12:24

why do you care if you are vaccinated?

I'm not having it atm as I'm pregnant, I dont feel comfortable and that's that. I probably will after. I would tell you to fuck off if you berated me for that choice.

MaxNormal · 20/05/2021 12:28

@MotherOfGodWeeFella tough. Got to protect myself now.

Solomonseals · 20/05/2021 12:28

This thread is frightening.

JingsMahBucket · 20/05/2021 12:28

@JennieLee

I think the question is how do you work safely for prolonged periods with/alongside someone who has opted not to have the vaccine and who is in a public-facing role.

From a public health point of view I think it's a reasonable question, and one which management has a responsibility to deal with for the sake of all employees, as well as the wider community.

This is an extremely valid question @JennieLee. Someone who is possibly infectious shouldn't be working directly with the public unless almost everyone else in the office has had full vaccinations.

Moondust001 · 20/05/2021 12:29

@JingsMahBucket
this thread is already full of anti-vaxxers and covid deniers

I wonder if you could point out who they are and your evidence for that claim? I, for one, took part in a vaccine trial in order to take risks to develop a vaccine that would work for everyone. And since then I have also had both doses of one of the vaccines. So I'm interested in how you are magically determining who haven't had the vaccine / refuse to get it, and which people deny Covid exists. Genuinely. Please do share.

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