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Original poster

To the non-vaxxers who work for the NHS- do we have a leg to stand on?

999 replies

LMonkey · 05/11/2021 16:55

So it's looking like vaccines will become mandatory for all NHS workers from April next year...where on earth can we go fro here?
I really dont want to get in to a vaccine debate. I have strong feelings as to why I don't want the vaccine. I'm a med sec and don't see any patients any way, or go anywhere near them. But regardless of this I strongly feel NOBODY should be forced to have any vaccine. Do we have a leg to stand on? I mean it's not lawful to force an employee to have a vaccine but if the government make it compulsory for nhs staff is there any way round it do you think? This really is causing me enormous amounts of stress. I really don't know what to do (please don't anyone say "get the vaccine"). I'd love to hear from others in the same boat or from a legal standpoint.

OP posts:
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RacketeerRalph · 05/11/2021 17:33

@Miss2018

I don’t think it’s a new concept. I’m in the dental field and we have to be vaccinated against hep b. You are vaccinated as a student and you either get vaccinated or you don’t practice and leave the course. All practices I have ever worked in, including hospitals, have checked my vaccine record.
Interesting. In my trust no vaccine is mandatory, but there's mandatory vaccine counseling for those who refuse certain ones.
mcmooberry · 05/11/2021 17:33

No advice as I don't know but I absolutely support people's decision not to be vaccinated (am vaccinated myself) , especially as it doesn't stop you passing it on and, in your case, you aren't in direct contact with patients.

The vaccine itself isn't entirely risk-free, people shouldn't be forced to have it against their will.

Whatwentwronghere · 05/11/2021 17:34

Sorry op I can see you're getting a hard time but I also agree with the majority.

Some vaccines are already mandatory so why should covid be any different. It's a dangerous virus. We have to think about the majorities well being not the individual circumstances.

Five months is still plenty of time to find a job if you feel so strongly against having a vaccination.

LettertoHermoine · 05/11/2021 17:35

I support you OP, it's a sad day when you are forced to take a vaccine or lose your job.

Suzi888 · 05/11/2021 17:38

@RacketeerRalph

And I don't understand it when literally no other vaccine is mandatory.
^ This too, I find it all very confusing!
Derbee · 05/11/2021 17:38

Get another job. But hopefully it won’t be too long before everyone in every job needs to be vaccinated, and it catches up with you at some point

NeverDropYourMoonCup · 05/11/2021 17:38

@LMonkey

So it's looking like vaccines will become mandatory for all NHS workers from April next year...where on earth can we go fro here? I really dont want to get in to a vaccine debate. I have strong feelings as to why I don't want the vaccine. I'm a med sec and don't see any patients any way, or go anywhere near them. But regardless of this I strongly feel NOBODY should be forced to have any vaccine. Do we have a leg to stand on? I mean it's not lawful to force an employee to have a vaccine but if the government make it compulsory for nhs staff is there any way round it do you think? This really is causing me enormous amounts of stress. I really don't know what to do (please don't anyone say "get the vaccine"). I'd love to hear from others in the same boat or from a legal standpoint.
You're not an indentured worker. You can leave and get a job outside the NHS, care sector or anywhere near vulnerable people, you know.

After all, you've got easily transferable skills in typing, answering the phone and filing test results (I used to do it, they're very useful in offices everywhere) - it won't be difficult.

cptartapp · 05/11/2021 17:39

Hep B is primarily given to protect yourself, not the patient. Very different.
After 32 years in the NHS I'm kind of with you OP. Although fully vaxed it doesn't sit comfortably to make it compulsory to keep your job, when many thousands of vulnerable and elderly people, those most at risk (just as I see with the flu vaccine year on year) refuse to have it themselves.

Plumpkinn · 05/11/2021 17:40

A gun held to your head 😂😂

ElvisPresleyHadABaby · 05/11/2021 17:41

@Djifunrsn

And yes the responses here are generally quite shocking. We can still have choices over this kind of thing!
Yes, you can have a choice to get it and your employer can decide if they allow unvaccinated people in their job. Choices for everyone!
sotiredofthislonelylife · 05/11/2021 17:41

So sick of people who constantly whine about not wanting the jab - choosing what goes into their bodies, blah blah blah.
Presumably they had their vaccinations as babies, and the relevant boosters as they grew.

What on earth is the difference?

So many people rely on SM telling them that Covid jabs are ‘experimental’, when the scientists have been working on these types of vaccines for over 10 years, knowing that more coronaviruses would appear after SARS and MERS, and they needed to be prepared.

We are so lucky to have been at the forefront of new technology, and it annoys me when people shun the protection that vaccination offers ALL of us.

I hope the anti-vaxxers don’t expect the NHS to pull out all the stops for them if they contract Covid.

girlmom21 · 05/11/2021 17:43

OP, when I was 12 I was terrified about having the HPV vaccine. Yesterday, I read that it has reduced the chances of getting cervical cancer by 90%.

You have every right to not want the vaccine for whatever reason, but it might just save your life.

trilbydoll · 05/11/2021 17:44

I don't have any skin in this game but I don't like mandatory vaccination. I think it's a slippery slope into 'we know what is best for you' and could go anywhere. So OP you have my sympathy, even if your reason is that you think it has a chip in it to track your every move Wink

SarahBop · 05/11/2021 17:45

It is pointless.

Vaccinated people are still transmitting the virus, so it makes no sense to assume the unvaccinated staff are the issue.

Would be more sensible if they could check antibodies amongst the unvaccinated, that might give them a clearer picture.

Personally I think it's disgusting. Not a coincidence that the government make profit from something they are pushing so hard, is it...

Fight, fight and fight. There are some good letter templates that explain you are not refusing the vaccine, just delaying your decision and that you want the trust to be held liable for any potential damage or injury you receive - they won't sign, because they can't guarantee you won't be vaccine injured or killed.

Please fight, for our kids and grandkids sake....This is means to an end

Campfirewood · 05/11/2021 17:45

As you well know, The NHS is on its knees, if everyone got the vaccine it wouldn’t be as bad. Be part of the solution Op.

OnyxGirl · 05/11/2021 17:45

@LMonkey

How am I not being forced?? How easy do you think it is to just go out and get another job?? I have kids to look after, a house to pay for. I've worked my arse off for the NHS for the past 10 years and now I am effectively having a gun held to my head. Not all of us have a partner who can financially support an entire family. Why bother replying if you're going to be so small minded? Ive been feeling really low about this and i actually thought I might hear from some supportive people on mumsnet, but no. You've clicked on this thread to have a go at someone because you aren't capable of seeing it from another person's point of view. I'm done
Because you have six months to find another job if you don’t agree with it? I’d agree they were giving you no choice if they said six days… but it’s six months.
SarahBop · 05/11/2021 17:48

@sotiredofthislonelylife

So sick of people who constantly whine about not wanting the jab - choosing what goes into their bodies, blah blah blah. Presumably they had their vaccinations as babies, and the relevant boosters as they grew.

What on earth is the difference?

So many people rely on SM telling them that Covid jabs are ‘experimental’, when the scientists have been working on these types of vaccines for over 10 years, knowing that more coronaviruses would appear after SARS and MERS, and they needed to be prepared.

We are so lucky to have been at the forefront of new technology, and it annoys me when people shun the protection that vaccination offers ALL of us.

I hope the anti-vaxxers don’t expect the NHS to pull out all the stops for them if they contract Covid.

Because they haven't ever said YOU CAN'T ATTEND SCHOOL because you didn't have your childhood vaccines. You can't go in the supermarket because you didn't have your booster etc etc.

What they are trying to do is revoke peoples human rights by way of coercion. It is unfair and morally disgusting to do so - very draconian.

Fooshufflewickjbannanapants · 05/11/2021 17:49

@LMonkey

How am I not being forced?? How easy do you think it is to just go out and get another job?? I have kids to look after, a house to pay for. I've worked my arse off for the NHS for the past 10 years and now I am effectively having a gun held to my head. Not all of us have a partner who can financially support an entire family. Why bother replying if you're going to be so small minded? Ive been feeling really low about this and i actually thought I might hear from some supportive people on mumsnet, but no. You've clicked on this thread to have a go at someone because you aren't capable of seeing it from another person's point of view. I'm done
You have choice!! You also have consequences that's life!
Derbee · 05/11/2021 17:50

@LMonkey

How am I not being forced?? How easy do you think it is to just go out and get another job?? I have kids to look after, a house to pay for. I've worked my arse off for the NHS for the past 10 years and now I am effectively having a gun held to my head. Not all of us have a partner who can financially support an entire family. Why bother replying if you're going to be so small minded? Ive been feeling really low about this and i actually thought I might hear from some supportive people on mumsnet, but no. You've clicked on this thread to have a go at someone because you aren't capable of seeing it from another person's point of view. I'm done
It’s absolutely disgusting to have worked for the NHS for so long, and have no interest in trying to prevent the collapse because vaccines which with stop diseases, or minimise the severity of them are being refused internally. Disgraceful.
JassyRadlett · 05/11/2021 17:50

I completely disagree with the government's decision for care home and NHS staff. So far, they have openly admitted that the (so called) "vaccine" does not stop you catching or transmitting the virus.

It significantly reduces the chance of you becoming infected (thus reducing risk to others).

The picture on secondary transmission is less clear. High-exposure household transmission (which has always been the highest risk of transmission) seems to be no better in vaccinated than unvaccinated people. However studies out of Illinois and the Netherlands suggest much lower overall transmission rates from infected vaccinated people, even with Delta.

But even without transmission reduction, a vaccinated person presents a lower risk to others as they are less likely to become infected from the same level of exposure.

So in any case, it stops a significant amount of infection, and potentially some transmission. I’m sure you weren’t intending to spread information intentionally.

Pinkyxx · 05/11/2021 17:50

As a med secretary you presumably have contact with Doctors who in turn have contact with patients. You work in a medical facility. I'm all for choice though and you do have a choice: get vaccinated or move to an employer that doesn't require this. 6 months is way more notice than most get to find alternative employment when the terms change.

SarahBop · 05/11/2021 17:50

@Campfirewood

As you well know, The NHS is on its knees, if everyone got the vaccine it wouldn’t be as bad. Be part of the solution Op.
We will laugh when the NHS is still on it's knees, even after mandatory vaccination. It was already on it's knees pre-covid. They are using the pandemic as an excuse to sweet-talk people into privatisation, I feel.

The solution makes the government lots of money - funny that....like the PPE contract that got granted to a brand new company with links to someone in the house of commons....how very odd....

Babdoc · 05/11/2021 17:50

cptartapp, not strictly true with regards to Hep B. Surgeons need to be immunised to protect patients - a hep positive surgeon who punctures his glove with a needle or scalpel while inside a patient’s body cavity, can bleed and infect the patient. So it provides protection in both directions.
Why are you so anti immunisation, OP? Your employer has a duty of care towards you, and as they are asking you to work in a high risk building containing infected patients- possibly undiagnosed, especially in A and E and outpatient clinics - where Covid may be circulating in the aircon, it seems reasonable that they require you to be protected from death/serious disease by immunisation.

RosaBaby2 · 05/11/2021 17:50

I'm really sorry people are being such dicks.

I am vaccinated, one of my colleagues was fired recently for not getting the vaccine. Its really sad.

I don't understand why no other vaccines are compulsory but this one is. I think that they should just keep the un-vaccinated people and no longer employ people without the vaccine, but they won't.

If they can make this mandatory they can do what they want really. It's quite scary.

loobylou10 · 05/11/2021 17:51

Choices have consequences OP. Youve made your choice.