Vaccines - should they be mandatory?

The retainment in staff in the care sector is far more complex than being forced to have vaccines

If we apply this to care home staff, then in all fairness it has to be all health care staff as well.

MaizieD

I would be firmly against mandatory vaccination. It's a thin end of a wedge and I don't care for wedges. Perfectly happy for it to be made a condition of employment in some jobs, though.

As an aside, GG13, I think it might be easier to staff care homes if the pay and conditions were better.

Totally agree regarding pay and conditions, the majority of the care homes in our area are privately owned/run. I realise they have to be profitable however, if you pay staff well, along with good working conditions the staff turnover/absence will decrease.

Happier staff, happier residents within a safe caring environment.

suziewoozie

If we apply this to care home staff, then in all fairness it has to be all health care staff as well.

I know of frontline nursing staff on Covid wards who have refused both vaccines.

I think I did once try to be one-up about having a more ancient kitchen than any other GNer, but someone beat me, dammit.

Oops, wrong thread, mods please remove!

The Telegraph is reporting tonight on provisional plans to start vaccinating children from August.

No, I don’t think vaccines should be mandatory. The number of people who are choosing to not be vaccinated is worrying though.

Talk of it being made compulsory for any group makes me very uneasy. What would be much better would be if someone tried to find out why professional carers have had such a low take-up so far. Bet the results would be revealing.

i think it is broadly to do with racism, historically, and lack of trust in govt/ the establishment.

along with some wacky websites.

What I certainly can't understand though is anyone who says they are against compulsory vaccination, but oh, it's OK in some circumstances.

If you are against compulsory vaccination you should be against compulsory vaccinations in ALL circumstances - end of.

What do you mean by professional careers? You mean nursing home staff etc?

GrannyRose15

Talk of it being made compulsory for any group makes me very uneasy. What would be much better would be if someone tried to find out why professional carers have had such a low take-up so far. Bet the results would be revealing.

The take up for care home staff is about 75% overall which is being sold as low but really we should say lower than rather than low. But I agree that more info is needed on the reasons behind the hesitancy. We have to avoid ( I mean in general not GN) getting into a moral panic about this and getting everyone in a lather. I think some people should remember that a year ago we had care workers wearing bin bags and now some people want them summarily dismissed.
Let’s get some more evidence of the problem and tread carefully weighing up the fundamental issues involved. We need some calm wise heads not political posturing.

Yes I agree completely, from very early on I thought the clap for carers was absolute nonsense and I am afraid this confirms it for me. Most people couldnt care less about carers.

I do not think that they should be compulsory as such; but that there should be things you cannot do if you choose not to have one. For example work in the NHS, or in a care home, or go abroad.

www.itv.com/news/2021-03-23/mandatory-covid-vaccinations-for-care-home-workers-being-considered-says-matt-hancock

Looks like it will become mandatory in England.

Yes as Michael Ball said the other night on tv. It shouldn’t be compulsory so long as it is the right of owners of restaurants, theatres.cruise ships etc to insist that you have to be vaccinated in order to use their services.

Luckygirl

I do not think that they should be compulsory as such; but that there should be things you cannot do if you choose not to have one. For example work in the NHS, or in a care home, or go abroad.

Yes, absolutely.

Lovetopaint037

Yes as Michael Ball said the other night on tv. It shouldn’t be compulsory so long as it is the right of owners of restaurants, theatres.cruise ships etc to insist that you have to be vaccinated in order to use their services.

And yes to this too.

Yes to both posts Luckygirl and Lovetopaint037.
Making things mandatory will produce a lot of protests about infringement of rights, as happened with masks. Your suggestions give people a choice.

grannyrebel7

I think I'm missing something here. If all care home residents for example have been vaccinated, why do unvaccinated staff pose a risk to them?

Because no vaccine is 100% effective. AZ just reported 76% this morning (which is pretty good for a vaccine), so on average if there are 100 residents vaccinated 24 will still be vulnerable.

Of course the same argument goes for the staff - but this is the whole point of herd immunity, you can't eliminate the virus with the vaccine but if you reduce the number of possible hosts sufficiently it has nowhere to go.

MayBee70

What do you mean by professional careers? You mean nursing home staff etc?

I didn't say careers - I said carers and what I meant was anyone who is looking after another person professionally. It was supposed to be a short hand term for nurses, nursing auxiliaries, care home staff, and those who provide care in the community.

Many of them had not had the vaccine even when it has been offered.

That will teach me not to try too hard to be succinct.

suziewoozie

I think I largely agree with you. Unfortunately calm consideration of facts is not something very many people are going in for at the moment.

GrannyRose15

suziewoozie

I think I largely agree with you. Unfortunately calm consideration of facts is not something very many people are going in for at the moment.

I’ve been thinking recently that there’s something the opposite of vaccine hesitancy and maybe as dangerous in its own way.