VACCINE, OR NOT?

Vaccine, or not?

So the government has brought in regulations insisting that all social care staff are vaccinated. The rules have already come into place in care homes.

Some 50,000 staff were not vaccinated, and have therefore presumably left the industry.

The changes come into effect in home care from 1st April.

Will this lead to another exodus? With recruitment so tough, the timing couldn’t be worse.

People have many and varied reasons for not taking the vaccine, some perhaps more spurious than others. There are some who may have deeply held religious objections.

There are others however who have less reason to defer the jab, particularly those who are gung-ho about the dangers of Covid. They have every right not to worry for themselves, but there is a deeper societal reason for getting it: to protect others.

Given the fragile nature of the care industry, might the government consider an alternative to mandating the vaccine?

What about testing?

Might we be able to protect our clients, and staff, if we all do weekly PCR tests and daily lateral flows?

We would welcome the Chief Scientific Officer’s advice on that.