By Charlotte Webster-
Care staff are likely to be forced to take the vaccine or relinquish their position, many are being told by their employers
The Eye Of Media.Com has heard that care staff across the UK are being told to prepare for the possibility that lose their job, unless they take the vaccine to keep the rest of the staff safe.
Nhs workers at hospitals including Newham General hospital, Basildon hospital, and Southend hospital, have been given forms to fill in the past month, in which they were asked to confirm whether they intend to take the vaccine or not.
Staff who expressed a reluctance to take the vaccine have been urged to voluntarily take the vaccine. but many have been told in the past week to prepare for the likelihood of being forced to take it or lose their job.
It follows recent revelations in a leaked document that the British government is considering changing the law to make COVID-19 jabs mandatory for all care staff, according to a leaked document.
The paper, submitted to the Sub-Committee of COVID-19 operations has revealed plans for Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock had agreed to the proposal to make jabs compulsory for care workers in England.
The leaked document said: “The prime minister and the secretary of state [Hancock] have discussed on several occasions the progress that is being made to immunise social care workers against COVID-19 and have agreed – in order to reach a position of much greater safety for care recipients – to put in place legislation to require vaccinations among the workforce.”
In response to the reports, Hancock said that a decision had not yet been taken, but confirmed the government is considering the possibility of mandatory care worker vaccines.
The news comes one month after the justice secretary said it may be legal for UK businesses to insist on new employees being vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of their employment.
Government minister, Michael Gove, has been assigned with the role of examining the moral, ethical, and philosophical arguments of mandating vaccine passports for the population. He is due to announce his conclusion on April 11.
Robert Buckland said it was unlikely bosses could make existing workers have the jab under their current contracts.
However, he added that insisting that new staff be vaccinated could, in theory, be possible, if it was written into their contacts.
He explained that it was important to “encourage as many people as possible, particularly in care homes” to have the jab.
Commenting on the reports, trade union Unison said compulsory vaccinations for care staff are “entirely the wrong way to increase injection take-up” and would “heap additional pressures on an already-challenged sector”.
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Everyone wants the pandemic over and vaccinations are the route to normality. But turning the clock back to Victorian times by forcing care workers to be jabbed isn’t the way.
“All those who can have the vaccine should. That’s clear. But the key to getting the numbers up is for employers, unions and the government to work together.
“Instead of leaping to the law, ministers could start by putting the funds behind a targeted advertising campaign aimed at care staff.”