Four in 10 carers could reject having vaccine: Ms Nadra

LONDON: As many as four in 10 carers may choose not to have the Covid-19 vaccine, an industry director has suggested.

Nadra Ahmed, chairwoman of the National Care Association, said research indicates more than half of care staff were “very keen” to be inoculated, but others were adamant they would not have it, and some were undecided with their uncertainty potentially motivated by “fear”.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We know that between 50-60 per cent, depending on individual services, of the staff are actually saying they will definitely have the vaccine and are very keen.

“We understand between about 17-20 per cent of staff in services are saying they definitely won’t have it, and then you have the rest who are waiting to see.

“So we are looking at potentially 40 per cent who decide not to have it.” It was put to her that this was a “huge” number of care workers.

Ms Ahmed replied: “It certainly is, however I do think people will start to change their minds as the vaccine becomes more readily available and they see colleagues having it.

“I think the uncertainty rests somewhere around fear, but then also there are people with conditions who are being advised not to have it, so the picture is a little bit hazy at the moment but we are doing all we can.” However, employment lawyer Bobby Ahmed said there could be grounds to make take-up of the vaccine mandatory in the care sector.

He told the programme: “I think there is most certainly within the care home setting a workplace-specific argument to support vaccination as a precondition of work. In that respect, while there are no statutory positions to allow the UK government to force individuals to become vaccinated, there is legislation within the employment context which certainly care providers can avail themselves of.

“The main one here is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which obliges employees to take reasonable steps to reduce any workplace risks and in the context of vulnerable workers, that is clearly apparent. They have to ensure that there are appropriate (steps taken) to ensure that the vulnerable persons that care is being provided to are not exposed to such risks.

“I would think it is highly likely it could be deemed to be reasonable for employers to ask employees to be vaccinated.” Ms Ahmed said the mooted rejection of the vaccine by some will contribute to the need for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to continue beyond widespread vaccinations.

She went on: “We will be having visits into the care services, we will have residents potentially who can’t have the vaccine, so I think PPE remains in place and we will be advising everyone to continue to use PPE. I don’t think PPE is something that is just going to disappear once the vaccines have been taken.”