A nurse from Salford Royal Hospital has backed the government’s mandate for frontline NHS staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Sajid Javid, Health and Social Care Secretary has announced that NHS and social care staff across England will be required to be fully vaccinated.
The previous government stance was that the vaccine will be a personal choice. With prime minister Boris Johnson repeatedly saying that vaccines will not be mandatory.
However, Sajid Javid announced that healthcare professionals working face-to-face have a ‘Unique responsibility’ for the safety of patients and others.
The MP’s have voted 385 to 100 in favour of the regulations which set a deadline for all workers to be jabbed by April 2022.
Salford Royal Nurse, Sam Scragg voiced her opinion and said: “I think it is the right decision as hired nurses we all must make sure we are vaccinated against meningitis C, MMR and hepatitis b and I do not see this as anything different.”
She added: “When you have worked in the NHS, and you have seen what it’s like for the patients that have suffered from Covid-19.
I do not understand why we would not have our own vaccine to make sure that we are safe, and the clients are safe.”
It is estimated that between 80,000 and 100,000 NHS workers in England were unvaccinated, said Chris Hopson, head of NHS Providers.
Ms Scragg says that nurses and NHS staff may have mixed feelings about the government’s decision and this could cause disruption.
She said: “My guess is that the people that would have had the vaccine have already received it.
“I think that NHS staff will be a bit disgruntled that they must have it as mandatory, and that is the decision that they must make either they have the vaccine and protect the patients, or they may lose their jobs. But that will be something for individual trust to discuss with their own staff.”
Recent statistics show that in Salford positive PCR tests are up by 8.6%. Nurse Scragg said that:
“I don’t know the level of staff in Salford that has not had the Covid vaccine and that might be vastly different trust to trust.
“But I think we have had extremely high levels of Covid-19 patients at Salford Royal, so it is important to protect ourselves and our clients, so it is necessary.”
The discussion on mandatory Covid-19 vaccination which began in September, mentioned that Flu Jabs should also be mandatory for frontline NHS workers.
Yet, Sajid Javid stated that the flu vaccine would not be made mandatory.
To find out more about Covid-19 vaccinations in Salford, click here.
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