NHS staff in England will be have to be vaccinated against Covid by April in order to keep their jobs, the health secretary has announced.
While 90% of NHS staff are fully vaccinated, there remain 103,000 workers who have not had a single dose, Sajid Javid said. Staff will be offered one-to-one meetings with clinicians if they want to discuss their concerns.
Three NHS workers share their views on mandatory vaccination, backing the policy but others voicing concern that it will exacerbate staffing issues.
‘We should be setting the example to patients’
Tom, a 41-year-old physiotherapist in Leeds, received his booster jab last weekend and believes health workers have a responsibility to set an example for their patients. “When I initially qualified I was expected to be vaccinated against diseases like hepatitis – it seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, given that we’re regularly seeing vulnerable members of society,” he says. He reasoned that while existing health workers will not have known about a Covid vaccine requirement before they took on the job, the profession requires adaptability “when the healthcare environment changes … [which] obviously Covid has done on a massive level”.
Amid the proliferation of myths around vaccination, which he credits partially to “social media echo chambers”, the physiotherapist believes it is crucial for NHS workers to be primed to explain the risks and benefits of vaccination. “I had a patient in recently who voiced concerns about the vaccine. I told him I was happy about the fact that I was having my booster. It felt like a relatively powerful thing that I could say to him.”
‘It’s good to encourage people to protect themselves’
Mary*, a 29-year-old junior doctor in a hospital in the East Midlands, is fully vaccinated and, while broadly in favour of compulsory vaccinations, wishes the issue could be approached differently. “I’m of the opinion that it’s good to encourage people to protect themselves,” she says, but as the issue of transmission among vaccinated people still remains, there should be “more clarity for the reasons behind it”.
The junior doctor is concerned that some members of staff who feel hesitant will need more support before agreeing to take up the vaccine. “I worry that the people who aren’t going to choose to have it are people who are already in more financially precarious jobs. I hope they are supported to make the right decision,” she says. Mary says reasons for hesitancy among some colleagues included worries around short-term side effects that could cause them to miss work or childcare.
While her workplace has held “teams meetings where people can talk about the vaccine”, she thinks a more personalised approach would be more effective. “My feeling is one-on-one sessions with people that you know and trust, like a line manager or someone in your team, are more likely to make a difference.”
‘We respect patients’ choices, why doesn’t that apply to us?’
Anne*, a student nurse in Yorkshire who has not had the vaccine over concerns about potential side effects, is against the mandate. The 20-year-old, who is on placement at a hospital, says she “suffers anxiety every day” in case she’s confronted by vocal staff about her choice. “There will be a large number of people who feel like me but wouldn’t stick their heads over the parapet,” she says.
“You want to be honest, but then other people end up finding out and they look down on you.”
Anne, who is “up to date” with all her other vaccines but worries about the Covid jab “because it’s new”, is seriously considering not taking up the jab, even if it means being forced to leave her nursing course. “There’s a lot to balance up – it’s quite scary. I love what I do, but part of nursing is to give people an informed choice and respect their decision. We do that all the time with patients – why doesn’t it apply to us in this situation?”
Anne has concerns that the policy could result in some staff deciding to leave rather than get vaccinated. “If that happens I’ll be working on wards even more short staffed than before – particularly the lower paid staff that are absolutely vital but not recognised. They’ll probably fill gaps at Amazon and Costa where you don’t come across bodily fluids and death.”
* Names have been changed
