Care staff: Mandatory jabs is ‘step too far’ says Nadra Ahmed
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Chair of the National Care Association Nadra Ahmed has warned of care staff shortage risk as some workers are rejecting the mandatory vaccine jabs, saying this is “a step too far”. The warning came as care workers in England as the deadline for staff to receive their first COVID-19 jab comes on Thursday. Carers will need to be double-jabbed by November 11 or face the axe if the second dose is delayed.
Speaking to the BBC, Ms Ahmed said: “I think it’s highly unlikely that it will change and that’s why we’ve seen this exit from the care homes into the NHS where they don’t have to have the vaccine.
“And most of them we are trying to explain to them.
“Every question that’s asked is answered, and we try and get all the information, all the literature, there are one to ones going on.
“We are talking to them about the impact of their decisions. We’re talking to them about the whole picture of why the vaccine is important for them, primarily and how it safeguards them against this dreadful illness.”
She continued: “But actually nothing we can say has been able to persuade them.
“When PPE wasn’t available freely and providers are fighting to get that PPE, when testing was absolutely not consistent.”
She added: “This is the staff group who’ve done all of that and they now feel that this kind of mandatory vaccination is a step too far.”
All care home workers are required to have received their first dose of a Covid vaccine by Thursday so that they are fully vaccinated by the time the regulations come into force on November 11.
Care minister Helen Whately suggested care home staff who would not get double jabbed could be moved to back-office roles.
She told Sky News: “The big question has to be if you don’t want to get vaccinated, how can you continue, how can it be right to continue, to look after people who are really vulnerable from Covid?”
David Kelly of workplace management app Deputy, commented: “Many workers who have demonstrated their commitment to caring throughout the pandemic feel demoralised and undervalued.
“A number have explained they are not ‘anti-vaxxers’ but have personal reasons for not wanting the vaccine, ranging from religious and cultural reasons to health concerns.”
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