Covid vaccinations to be made compulsory for care home staff

Biscuitmuncher

Talullah being vaccinated against a disease so horrendous most people don't know they've got it!

You have looked at what's been happening in India, haven't you Biscuitmuncher? Or do you think those horrendous scenes are faked just to put the fear in us? FFS.

Yes I fully agree with it. And also so should all teachers, NHS workers, police ambulance fire brigade in fact all public service workers, and those in close contact with the public. Compulsory or no job

No exemptions, I wouldn't wish to be looked after in my fragile state by the unvaccinated. Those workers with medical concerns should be given every support to resolve their questions.

Ideally someone who refuses to be vaccinated should be offered a post where they don't come into contact with residents or colleagues who are working with residents. This might be difficult, but would possibly avoid accusations of unfair dismissal or discrimination. I suspect a number will come round to being vaccinated as they find they are prevented from travelling abroad, going to public events etc. Difficult but this is the age we are in

Every polite request for sources and evidence has been deflected and/or ignored, surely that speaks volumes.

From a personal perspective, I think one of the biggest sources of misinformation has come via Twitter and the blueticked (verified) accounts there...some have a huge following, are on TV in the guise of experts and yet repeatedly publish ridiculous claims.

There is a chronic shortage of staff in care homes this will make the situation much worse,as non vaxers will leave.
I agree in principal that carers and health staff should be vaccinated but as l said it will create problems.lts a job very few people want to do or have the skills to do.

Granny Gravy "I have thought long and hard about this and I keep coming back to the same place where I am uncertain that this could raise a precedent whereby it becomes law to have certain vaccines pre-school etc."
Why should that be a problem? Some children are unable to have vaccines because of allergies or other health problems. This makes them very vulnerable to anything going about so if another child happens to be ill or a carrier of a serious (or not so serious, eg flu) they could infect the vulnerable child who could then become extremely ill because someone else chose not to vaccinate. It's more to protect others than anything else. Where would we be if not for previous vaccines like polio?

Glenco

Granny Gravy "I have thought long and hard about this and I keep coming back to the same place where I am uncertain that this could raise a precedent whereby it becomes law to have certain vaccines pre-school etc."
Why should that be a problem? Some children are unable to have vaccines because of allergies or other health problems. This makes them very vulnerable to anything going about so if another child happens to be ill or a carrier of a serious (or not so serious, eg flu) they could infect the vulnerable child who could then become extremely ill because someone else chose not to vaccinate. It's more to protect others than anything else. Where would we be if not for previous vaccines like polio?

Glenco I agree with your post.

I am just uncomfortable with the basic principle of this or any Government legislating away our power to decide what we put into our bodies.

But they already do. There are a whole range of medicaments and addictive products that are not allowed to be purchased over the counter, then there are drinking laws that bans people from selling alcohol to children, not to mention all the laws banning contamination of food and insisting on high standards of hygiene etc in places handling fresh food.

Yes.

I'm not greatly in favour of compulsory anything, but I feel that in certain kinds of employment, especially in the caring professions, it's a no-brainer.
If for some reason you are so opposed to vaccines that you really won't have them, then the onus is on you to find a career where it is less important.

The people in care homes are vulnerable, so absolutely the staff should have the vaccine. Most of the reasons they come up with not to have it are ridiculous.
Covid had changed our world forever, so we have to change with it.
I had my vaccine very early on, I work for nhs. I was so grateful to be in a position to get it. And nothing untoward has happened to me.

I think it should be compulsory ...unless medical reason why not. When I worked in the NHS the occupation health team arrived one day out of the blue .....just came in, said roll up your sleeve .....tetanus injection ! No if, what or maybe ....just do it ! we were all working at the time so just sat down, rolled up our sleeves and got a little card with the date on .....never thought anything of it ...certainly had no need to complain ...I worked there, with vulnerable people in the hospital and was quite happy to comply ! Anyone refusing it simply on 'don't want it' grounds should lose their jobs.

I work in a care home. Most staff have been vaccinated but we have a group of staff who have not. These are mostly Eastern Europeans ( Poles, Lithuanian and Romanians) but also young girls and a few others who are I think attention seekers.
The rest of the staff are not happy with them not being vaccinated and would rather not work with them.
Not only are they risking the residents but other staff and families.
They also tried ( unsuccessfully) to avoid the twice weekly testing.
I and the rest of the vaccinated staff would like to see COVID vaccination compulsory and see what happens to the staff who have refused to be vaccinated. Some will make a stand and say the government is trying to keep tabs on everyone via some device in the jab ( this is the Eastern European stance) and they might leave, the young girls ( who have heard about fertility issues) will be reassured and the time wasters well who cares about them.

I would worry about the level of understanding of science of those who simply refuse to have the jab. Would it impact on the rest of their caring role? Do they understand about contamination? What ‘airborne aerosols’’ means? Difference between viral and bacterial etc. How much epidemiology do they understand? Can they interpret graphs and understand statistics and basic probability? How exactly have they come to their decision?

Indeed those working on minimum wage in often really difficult conditions will have a sound understanding of epidemiology.

Not before time, but I know there are a number of Carers in a local home who have refused to have a vaccine.

Galaxy

Indeed those working on minimum wage in often really difficult conditions will have a sound understanding of epidemiology.

To be fair galaxy, quite a few of my daughters support workers are degree educated. Not all of them but the senior ones are. The ones from the commonwealth are generally qualified nurses too working in care whilst topping up their qualifications prior to working in the NHS.

If my parents were alive and in a care home I would hope they were being cared for by vaccinated staff. My friend's mother and another friend's hubby both died in hospital after contracting Covid while in there for heart problems. If people choose a caring profession why don't they care about maybe spreading the virus to the elderly.

I support it. My lovely 96 year old ex neighbour is in a care home and I'd hate for a carer to put her life at risk. As others have said, if a carer is not happy having the jab then there are other jobs.

does anybody know if it is compulsory for nhs staff?

OK, I'll ask again.

Why is it OK for the medically exempt to care for people in care homes but not people who decide not to have the jab? Or should they lose their jobs as well, due to a medical condition they can do nothing about?

The medically exempt could still carry and pass on the virus, same as those who have decided not to have it. So is it only the people you think are selfish and/or stupid that need to lose their jobs?

Sorry, I don't have the time to read every single post, but there is a lot of misinformation here.

Firstly, it is unlawful to withhold sick pay regardless of whether the staff member declined to have the vaccine or not - whichever Nursing home did that can find themselves on the wrong end of a lawsuit.

Secondly, it is every single person's civic right to decline vaccines if they so wish.

Thirdly, Care workers are already very hard to come by as they are poorly paid and work under very stressful conditions. If you then make it compulsory to be vaccinated, they will leave in droves. That is NOT going to help granny and grand-dad in their care homes, left to starve and stew in their own excrement, as there aren't enough care workers to clean and bathe and feed them.

Fourthly, if care home RESIDENTS have been vaccinated, and the vaccines are allegedly 95% effective (as if!!!!), where is the need for STAFF to be vaccinated TOO? It's utter nonsense.

Fifthly, there is absolutely no comparison between the Hep B vaccine (which has been around for yonks) and the Covid vaccines (which arrived the day before yesterday). We do not know the long-term side-effects of the Covid vaccines. Other vaccines like BCG and Hep B have been around long enough for us not to worry about their safety profile long-term.

Sixthly, the vaccine industry and those who fund them have all become billionaires on the back of Covid. Do you really think they will admit that these vaccines are nowhere near as effective as claimed?

How did they come to the conclusion that they are "95% effective against Covid"? It is all nonsense. It's true that they stimulate antibodies and offer SOME degree of protection - but to state that they are 95% effective is a stretch.

12 of the 42 or so people in the Northwest who died of the Delta variant had been vaccinated with TWO doses - they still died. That is almost 30% of the cohort that died of the delta variant. The immediate response to this was that they had succumbed within two weeks of the second dose, and had not had adequate time to mount an immune response. But a short while ago they were telling us that even the FIRST dose of the vaccine offered significant protection! Now when it's not convenient, they look for excuses.

Don't believe everything the so-called scientists and politicians say - they all have vested interests.

As for care homes, watch Matt Hancock backpedal furiously and lift the injunction on compulsory vaccinations, as care homes plunge into an even worse crisis as staff leave rather than be coerced into vaccination.

This is a poorly thought-out strategy with disastrous consequences for the Care home industry.

The only way is to persuade people to be vaccinated rather than force them.

Matt Hancock really is an idiot.

DOI: Not an anti-vaxxer.

Oh dear, it was going so well until we got to the fourth point.

Anybody who feels the need to tell me that they are not an anti-vaxxer is probably an anti-vaxxer.

Matt Hancock is probably an idiot though.

Lots of medical/nursing/care staff already have to have certain vaccines it's a requirement of the profession Can't see the problem with having to have Covid ones as well