Refusing services to unvaccinated. What are your thoughts?

[TheChip]

I'm just curious to hear of people's thoughts on this.
I have currently been refused a service due to being unvaccinated, in the UK. Its not a service that would require close proximity like a hairdresser, but in the same space for a period of time.

My thoughts on it are while I understand and respect people's choices and comfort levels, I do find it hard to grasp when the virus is both passed between those vaccinated or unvaccinated. Even if you throw in the comments about how vaccination reduces transmission, it is still transmissible.

I would have been more than willing to LFT before every contact, and wear a mask. But this wasn't an option. Which I guess is the part I find most difficult to understand. That they would be comfortable and willing to be around those vaccinated, possibly even without testing. Which I'd expect testing to be expected for both vaccinated and unvaccinated for someone who is clearly so uncomfortable.

So yeah, what are your thoughts

Completely unacceptable, and about exerting power rather than being anything to do with safety. Not being vaccinated is a personal choice. I am fully vaccinated but have no interest whatsoever in knowing other people's status

I think it's pathetic, and agree with the PP.

Depends on the service.

If it's a business then they can choose who they will and will not serve (except for unlawful reasons eg racism)

If, OTOH, it's a national medical service etc then people who have chosen to not vaccinate should not be prevented from accessing medical care.

If a medical (nhs) service then I would be very disconcerted.

Private service - up to the provider, they may have reasons. Not sure on the correctness of them asking for disclosure of a client's vaccination status, that's private info? Perhaps they word in such a way as to elicit a disclosure without directly asking?

I would shrug and find another provider.

I think that private businesses can decline to serve somebody for any reason which isn’t in breach of equalities legislation. I wouldn’t want to give custom to somewhere which made it clear they didn’t want my money, anyway. I’d just find somewhere else without giving it much further thought.

Awful. It’s not something I could ever feel comfortable with.

What services are there where vaccination status has to be shared before having access to it?

Is this like a reverse where people with patient facing roles have to be vaccinated?

It is a private business. They did ask if I had a medical reason as to why I wasn't unvaccinated, but by that point it wouldn't have mattered to me as I felt it was too far, too intrusive and frankly, none of their business. I just said not a problem and decided to take my business elsewhere anyway.

I'm glad to see that others are with the same thinking.

What is the service? I’ve never heard of anything like this.

They’re obviously a bit hard-of-thinking if they haven’t realised what you’ve already said, so just go somewhere else.

My DD has covid at the moment and is absolutely fine. DS and I are both unvaccinated and neither of us have caught it so far, but if we do and have to isolate for 5 days, not a huge deal. Annoying re school and missed work, but I work at home so can carry on with anything that doesn’t need customer contact. I’ve worked through much worse illness including depression and the menopause which gave both had me on my knees at times, but still I worked on, at home on my own.

It’s ridiculous that the world is still limping along for a virus that has clearly evolved to be (even though for many it always was) asymptotic or very mild.

I recently saw a supplier of mine on FB spouting on about how those who are unvaxxed are not welcome at her premises with a big “F.. you” at the end. Having chatted to her extensively during collections over the last two years she has never implied that she or her family are CEV and she had no idea whether or not I - or any of her contacts - were vaccinated. She’s just lost a customer, and potentially plenty more, for exercising her right to pick and choose who she sells to. Idiot.

The irony is that an unvaccinated person who had taken a test would present less of risk than a vaccinated person who hadn't. Presumably your provider would accept the later. It's hugely concerning that people are making these decisions not based on evidence and common sense, but on their opinion that they should be able to dictate what other people put into their bodies.

I think it's awful but I guess businesses can do what they like. I'm vaccinated but I would not use a business that asked for my vaccination status, I'd go elsewhere.

Context is everything.

You need to name the service (not the company) in question.

Until you do so the only answer anyway can give is maybe yes, maybe no - depends.

What type of service was it, I have been vaccinated and think I wouldn't want to use a service that asked my vaccination status.

Whether you are vaccinated or not is medical information, and a private business surely has no right to know about any of that.

Its a driving instructor. Thankfully not one from a large company, but it was at the finalisation stages before she asked me my vaccination status. So it is worrying me that others are going to be the same. I am on waiting lists and reluctant to ask incase I highlight an issue that wouldn't otherwise be an issue.

Perhaps they are vulnerable? They are free to do this as a private business and you are free to take your business elsewhere. They obviously think the risk of losing any business outweighs other risks.

@TheChip

Its a driving instructor. Thankfully not one from a large company, but it was at the finalisation stages before she asked me my vaccination status. So it is worrying me that others are going to be the same. I am on waiting lists and reluctant to ask incase I highlight an issue that wouldn't otherwise be an issue.

I thought it might be. There are a couple of driving instructors in my area who have been very vocal about not wanting unvaccinated people using their service.

One got handed their arse on a local facebook group.

Same question thrown up from a lot of people about an unvaccinated person who had taken a LFT before hand being “safer” than so wow who was vaccinated not taking one. They just kept saying over and over that they would never ask a vaccinated person to test as they were “safe”.

*someone

I would probably just go elsewhere, as a vaccinated person I wouldn't use them either. Private businesses can do what they want though but if anyone wanted to see my vaccination pass I would go elsewhere.

I don’t think a driving instructor wanting their pupils to be vaccinated is that unreasonable. No social distancing in the car, and it’s their livelihood so they’d want to do everything to not have to stop working yet again.

If they get covid they will have loss of income, and I suppose if there demand for instructors they can pick and choose

Hopefully they will lose their livelihood then

Well that's ridiculous isn't it. I know loads of vaccinated people who have caught and passed Covid on in recent months, myself included

I would take my business elsewhere and leave reviews everywhere so others knew not to waste their time getting to the finalisation stages only to find out the business was discriminatory.