Vaccine Mandate for UK Healthcare Workers Likely

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said it is likely that he will make vaccines mandatory for the country’s healthcare workers. 

National Health Service, or the NHS, employees, currently do not have to adhere to a vaccine mandate. Javid said that he is “leaning towards” the decision. Regardless, nearly all NHS staff already have opted in to take the vaccines, with an estimated 95 percent of NHS having gotten inoculated. 

The health secretary’s reasoning for potential vaccine mandates is because he said it will protect patients and decrease the spread of Covid. 

Those against the measure say that the move could exacerbate the shortage of NHS staff, but Javid has insisted that the threat of not being able to work would encourage healthcare employees to get a vaccination, rather than quit their job. 

The United Kingdom has already implemented mandatory vaccines in the care sector. Javid said this increased an uptake in vaccines, citing it as proof that NHS employees would likely do the same. In terms of timing, the health secretary did not commit to a timeline, but said while it won’t be immediately, it also won’t be months and months away either. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has flip-flopped on the idea of vaccine passports as well as mandates. At the moment in the UK, masks are not required, and you do not need a vaccine passport to attend anything. 

A number of countries worldwide have insisted on vaccine mandates for healthcare workers. France was one of the first countries to introduce mandatory vaccination rules for health workers over the summer. Greece made vaccines mandatory for nursing home staff in July, and extended it to include all healthcare workers in September.

Canada has a piecemeal approach, with British Columbia becoming the first to announce a mandate for staff working in long-term care homes and assisted living facilities. In Italy, health workers who are not inoculated could face suspension without pay for the rest of the year. 

In the U.S., there is ongoing debate over the use of vaccine mandates. President Joe Biden has introduced a vaccine mandate that affected millions when he introduced a rule requiring most federal employees to get vaccinations, well as employees of companies larger than 100 people, or have mandatory testing.