Many things throughout this pandemic have left me shocked and bewildered, but the refusal of NHS professionals to get vaccinated is probably one of the most confusing. It now looks like the mandatory vaccine for NHS staff will be removed. I understand their resistance to a MANDATORY vaccine but WHY are 1 in 20 NHS professionals still not vaccinated? In interviews they’ve given reasons such as:
1) ‘fit, healthy people don’t need the vaccine’
2) ‘it’s understandable that there’s reluctance to a new treatment’ (spokesperson from Royal College of Nursing)
3) natural immunity is more effective than vaccine
4) it’s against my human rights.
What about the safety and protection of their patients who, by the very nature of requiring medical treatment, are presumably NOT fit and healthy! I know the vaccine does not prevent one from catching Covid, but it makes one less likely to catch it and therefore less likely to pass it to others. I really want to understand people’s reasons for refusing the vaccine, but am struggling with the concept of those who have chosen a medical career refusing it. If millions of people hadn’t been willing to take the vaccine, just imagine the situation we would be in now. Doctors seem happy to prescribe drugs to us in the knowledge that many will cause unpleasant, even harmful, side effects yet many won’t take the Covid vaccine. Please can any GNs help to ease my bewilderment over this issue.
