@Intercity225
I think a lot of people struggle not to feel contempt for care workers full stop, but are still more than happy leaving their elderly and vulnerable relatives in our care.
Of all the parents, I have met since DD was in residential schools from the age of 10, I have only come across regret in mothers that their children could not go to mainstream schools and have normal lives like most children; but there were no local schools suitable for their child and many had failed in mainstream already (or been bullied/depressed/suicidal).
I wish I could have DD home permanently; but I cannot look after her 24/7, and do all the cooking, housework, extra laundry on my own with practically no sleep, no respite, and no holidays ever; and no matter how ill I feel, I still have to look after her. Our other DD has also developed severe mental health problems as a result of watching what has happened, and needs considerable support from us too. The fact is if DH and I both got Covid and ended up in hospital, there would be nobody capable or willing to look after her, and she would die at home, without her medication or food or personal care. Whereas we know, if one or two careworkers test positive on her house, if nothing else the team leaders step in and do a shift, looking after her (or any of the others).
It does not mean I am more than happy to leave DD in the care of care workers. I wish people would stop trotting out this idea, that all families dump their relatives in care homes, because they can't be bothered to look after them. We have had decades of stress - it is the lesser of two evils, where the worse one will kill me and DH. I've had two breakdowns and he has had two heart attacks.
I'm sorry you've had to face that, your daughter deserves good care, everyone does. But that's not going to be achieved by people treating those doing the care dismissively and with contempt.
Do you resent the people who look after your daughter? Or care workers in general?
It's attitudes like
I can’t believe the government have to force this really!
I wish people could just do the right thing without it being mandated by this ridiculous shit show government.
This, indeed why did the government float this legislation 4 months into a brand new vaccination program, when all care workers hadn't had the chance to have it yet? When this legislation was first announced, I will have been on the 'unvaccinated' list because I'd only had my first one by then, and a couple of colleagues hadn't had theirs at all because they were within the 4 week window of testing positive for covid, therefore had to make other arrangements that took time and put them 1-4 weeks behind the rest of us. Everyone has been now vaccinated in my home, none of us refused. The figures being thrown around to justify this included people in those situations, but there was no distinction made between 'unvaccinated = selfish, nasty care workers' and 'unvaccinated = can't have it yet or not been offered'
And this
Sad that some people who work with extremely vulnerable people cannot bothered to get the vaccine and are willing to put their vulnerable people they 'care' for at risk.
Can't be bothered. Totally dismissing any needs, thoughts or feelings that care workers themselves might have, as human beings with lives outside of work, any concerns they may have, it's just being put down to they can't be bothered.
I've not seen one person ask why and I wonder why those concerns and issues aren't being addressed, working with people always gets better results than working against them, especially in a sector where the idea of being vaccinated to do the job has never been a conversation never mind a requirement. The fact that people keep throwing up "It's not a new requirement" just goes to show how little people know in general about how social care works. Pre covid, the only requirement to work with these groups was a clean DBS - and that doesn't include some offences now either. Now it's that and a covid vaccination.
Treating care workers like they only exist to facilitate care of other people, dismissing their concerns, worries and issues in favour of well do it or lose your job, isn't really a way to show they're valued and why wouldn't you want the people looking after the most vulnerable in society to feel valued? Surely that leads to a better outcome for those being cared for?
Mandating this only serves the government to say "Look at how we've safeguarded your vulnerable people! Look what we did! I know we put them at risk at the start of all this, and intend to do so again in less than a month, but look! We made all those nasty selfish care workers get vaccinated or get out!"
The way this has been done has made it very clear that care workers are simply seen as a way to get the people who need care looked after, and nothing else, and that the skills they have are throw away, and not worth anything because no one wants to have a discussion, talk about the concerns, give education or training around infection control and vaccination, it's do it or else.
Well some people have chosen the what else, and will continue to do so, because there's very little in the way of reward or incentive for doing this essential job anyway. And we have an ageing population and better survival rates for just about everything.
This is a new illness and a new vaccine, no one knows the long term effects of either, and as someone who is vaccinated, I'm not really reassured by the fact that the companies that made this and the people who rolled it out are immune from any kind of come back should problems become apparent in the future, but that's my choice to make, as it's my risk. I chose to be vaccinated.
No one will help with those things, are the people all saying that it should happen going to support me in the future if the vaccine does cause me an issue? Are they going to come and work alongside vaccinated staff on short staffed shifts to ensure that proper care is delivered if we lose workers over this? Are they going to speak up and ask that pay, training and working conditions are improved to attract more people to the industry? Are they going to ask for a proper vaccination program, proper infection control training and measures for care workers that includes more than covid?
Are they going to demand that all residents and visitors are vaccinated because anyone coming into contact with vulnerable people also poses a risk?
Or will they shrug their shoulders and look the other way?
I highly suspect the latter.
As I've said about a million times, I would support vaccination for care workers, done properly with training, education and information around this subject, I don't have an issue with vaccination for care workers, I have an issue with how this is being done.