TAKE JAB
NHS workers and care home staff could be forced into Covid jab in bid to limit delays to lockdown easing
Updated: 3 Mar 2021, 1:00
NHS WORKERS and care home staff could be forced to get Covid jabs in a bid to limit delays to lockdown easing.
Ministers are discussing the idea as part of the upcoming review into vaccine passports.
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It could mean all health staff are legally obliged to get vaccinated.
The plans raise legal and moral issues, and Downing Street has previously said it would be discriminatory to force someone to have a vaccine in order to keep their job.
Last modified on Wed 3 Mar 2021 15.58 EST
NHS workers have raised concerns about the prospect of all health and social care staff in England being compelled by law to take the Covid vaccine.
The Downing Street review which is considering making it mandatory for NHS workers to have the jab, as a way of protecting patients, has led to questions about its moral and legal implications.
A consultant in a busy north-west hospital said they would feel “incredibly uncomfortable” with the idea of forcing NHS staff to have the vaccine.
They said they would prefer a concerted high-profile campaign to encourage staff to have the vaccine, with a last-resort option of asking unvaccinated staff to take on different roles, away from the frontline.
Firms face legal minefield over jabs for jobs controversy
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Updated: 11:36, 04 March 2021
Companies considering insisting new employees must have had the Covid-19 vaccine are being warned of falling victim to discrimination claims.
A number of leading firms in the UK, including the likes of London-based Pimlico Plumbers and care home providers Barchester Healthcare, which has homes in Sevenoaks, Ashford, Sittingbourne, Maidstone and Rochester, have recently said they will reject staff who refuse the jab on non-medical grounds.
They have been joined by care home provider Care UK which runs sites in Whitstable, Ashford, Maidstone and Sevenoaks.
This despite Downing Street declaring such a move as discriminatory in a row which has split opinion in Boris Johnson s cabinet.
ELDERLY care home residents revelled in a unique trip down memory lane which utilised the tasty and reminiscent power of food. Silversprings, in Tenpenny Hill, Thorrington, enjoyed a digital session hosted by BBC food historian, Dr Polly Russell, from television show Back in Time for… The heart-warming event was part of the nationwide Food for Thought initiative which is designed to transport residents back to the glory days of their childhoods. Using food prepared by the home’s talented chef, Paul Radford, Dr Russell took those taking part through the delicious history of each treat. The memory-jolting afternoon tea, which included traditional sandwiches, a Victoria sponge, and tasty macaroons, resulted in the residents reminiscing.