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COVID vaccination is working to reduce severity of infection in those individuals who have received full courses and booster, and everyone should be encouraged to be vaccinated. However, I agree with the BMA, RCN, RCM and now RCGP calls to halt mandatory COVID vaccination for all public-facing employees in England. The impact of making vaccination a condition of employment on an already an under-resourced and under-staffed NHS would be disastrous.
Alas, the staffing impact on the NHS is not the only concern with this policy - there are other, longer-lasting and more pervasive dangers to consider…
1) The science. In November 2021, the HSC Secretary first announced that COVID vaccination would become mandatory for patient-facing Healthcare staff in April 2022, stating: “We must avoid preventable harm and protect patients in the NHS, protect colleagues in the NHS, and protect the NHS itself.” (1). However, studies just being reported through Dec 2021 and Jan 2022 are show that fully COVID-vaccinated people can transmit the virus (at least Delta variant) just as much as unvaccinated people (2). So the ‘herd immunity’ principles of other vaccination programmes do not appear to apply to COVID vaccination, and unvaxed people do not pose a greater risk of transmission than vaxed. Therefore, the primary reason for enforcing vaccination of NHS staff as a condition of employment is no longer valid.
2) “Following the Science”. How many times have we heard this phrase through the pandemic? However, it’s also become a catchphrase for Government incompetence and manipulation. Now, AntiVax conspiracy theorists are poised to capitalise on ‘Martyrs’ to their cause, to ‘prove’ to the wider public how they are right about the government conspiracies and lies about COVID and the vaccines, and so must be right about other vaccination programmes too. If NHSE and the government don’t backtrack quickly in response to the new evidence, then the AntiVax movement (and any other conspiracy theorists) will have the public’s attention handed to them on a silver platter. Just imagine the damage that could do to childhood vaccination programmes, and the consequences for under-vaccinated communities and society in years to come…
3) As Healthcare Professionals, we risk significantly undermining our own credibility as individual clinicians, and Healthcare Professions in general, if we do not stand up for and act in response to the very science that supposedly guides our professional decision-making. If the science reveals new evidence, then we must acknowledge and respond accordingly, and not just cling to past beliefs and practices. The public, press, and conspiracy theorists are watching our every move now to prove that we (Doctors, nurses, managers…) are either just puppets to the political machine, or complicit. If we want to maintain credibility, and have any chance of saving the NHS and our professional efficacy, then we need to actually watch and follow the science as professionals. We must stand up against non-evidence-based blanket compulsory COVID vaccination
1. Rimmer A. Covid vaccination to be mandatory for NHS staff in England from spring 2022 BMJ 2021; 375 :n2733 doi:10.1136/bmj.n2733
2. Franco-Paredes, Carlos. Transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 among fully vaccinated individuals. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 2022; 22(1): 16 doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00768-4
Re: Covid-19: Reassess effects of mandatory vaccination on staffing, urge unions
Dear Editor
COVID vaccination is working to reduce severity of infection in those individuals who have received full courses and booster, and everyone should be encouraged to be vaccinated. However, I agree with the BMA, RCN, RCM and now RCGP calls to halt mandatory COVID vaccination for all public-facing employees in England. The impact of making vaccination a condition of employment on an already an under-resourced and under-staffed NHS would be disastrous.
Alas, the staffing impact on the NHS is not the only concern with this policy - there are other, longer-lasting and more pervasive dangers to consider…
1) The science. In November 2021, the HSC Secretary first announced that COVID vaccination would become mandatory for patient-facing Healthcare staff in April 2022, stating: “We must avoid preventable harm and protect patients in the NHS, protect colleagues in the NHS, and protect the NHS itself.” (1). However, studies just being reported through Dec 2021 and Jan 2022 are show that fully COVID-vaccinated people can transmit the virus (at least Delta variant) just as much as unvaccinated people (2). So the ‘herd immunity’ principles of other vaccination programmes do not appear to apply to COVID vaccination, and unvaxed people do not pose a greater risk of transmission than vaxed. Therefore, the primary reason for enforcing vaccination of NHS staff as a condition of employment is no longer valid.
2) “Following the Science”. How many times have we heard this phrase through the pandemic? However, it’s also become a catchphrase for Government incompetence and manipulation. Now, AntiVax conspiracy theorists are poised to capitalise on ‘Martyrs’ to their cause, to ‘prove’ to the wider public how they are right about the government conspiracies and lies about COVID and the vaccines, and so must be right about other vaccination programmes too. If NHSE and the government don’t backtrack quickly in response to the new evidence, then the AntiVax movement (and any other conspiracy theorists) will have the public’s attention handed to them on a silver platter. Just imagine the damage that could do to childhood vaccination programmes, and the consequences for under-vaccinated communities and society in years to come…
3) As Healthcare Professionals, we risk significantly undermining our own credibility as individual clinicians, and Healthcare Professions in general, if we do not stand up for and act in response to the very science that supposedly guides our professional decision-making. If the science reveals new evidence, then we must acknowledge and respond accordingly, and not just cling to past beliefs and practices. The public, press, and conspiracy theorists are watching our every move now to prove that we (Doctors, nurses, managers…) are either just puppets to the political machine, or complicit. If we want to maintain credibility, and have any chance of saving the NHS and our professional efficacy, then we need to actually watch and follow the science as professionals. We must stand up against non-evidence-based blanket compulsory COVID vaccination
1. Rimmer A. Covid vaccination to be mandatory for NHS staff in England from spring 2022 BMJ 2021; 375 :n2733 doi:10.1136/bmj.n2733
2. Franco-Paredes, Carlos. Transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 among fully vaccinated individuals. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 2022; 22(1): 16 doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00768-4
Competing interests: No competing interests