The subject of mandatory Covid vaccines for NHS staff has once again been in the news, but this time it is expected that the government will drop the policy as the deadline for getting jabbed was approaching. NHS staff were supposed to begin the process of becoming fully vaccinated by February 3, but with nearly 80,000 workers yet to get their first dose, the government has decided to scrap the policy altogether as they could be faced with a more acute staffing crisis than already faces the National Health Service.
One senior Government source told The Telegraph: “Omicron has changed things. When we first introduced the policy, it was Delta that was the dominant variant.
“That was very high risk in terms of how severe it was.
"For Omicron, while it is more transmissible, all the studies have shown it is less severe. That has changed the conversation about whether mandatory jabs are still proportionate.”
Whether it is the reduced severity of the Omicron strain when compared to Delta or the fact that a Covid-hit service would struggle to lose so many more staff than it already has, it’s hard to know.
Asked about reports that there could be a U-turn on the policy, Simon Clarke, chief secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News: "This is a policy we have always kept under review.
"We’ve been trying to strike, throughout this pandemic, the right balance between having the maximum impact in terms of measures that support public safety in the face of the virus, but also have the minimum impact in terms of our wider freedoms as a society.
However, while it might be good for staffing hospitals, some patients – especially those advancing in years – may feel less comfortable with an unvaccinated doctor or nurse attending to them when they are ill.
What do you think about the reported U-turn in government policy? Do you think it’s a sensible move or another example of the Conservatives buckling when they couldn’t get their desired policy outcome? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below for the chance to be featured on the ES website tomorrow.
