{"id":684,"date":"2021-08-12T08:29:19","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T08:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/medical-centre\/?p=684"},"modified":"2021-08-12T08:29:19","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T08:29:19","slug":"vaccinating-healthcare-workers-against-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/medical-centre\/2021\/08\/12\/vaccinating-healthcare-workers-against-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaccinating healthcare workers against Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an article published in the British Medical Journal<\/a>, we discuss the topic of vaccinating healthcare workers against Covid-19. Our conclusion is that compulsion is unnecessary and inappropriate.<\/p>\n

Parliament\u2019s decision to make vaccination against covid-19 a condition of employment for care home workers has fuelled the debate around compulsory vaccination for healthcare workers, which may follow. Compulsory vaccination is not a panacea and may harm the safety of patients and healthcare workers, as well as affecting workload and wellbeing. It is a dilemma familiar to occupational health services in many NHS trusts.<\/p>\n

Is there a vaccine hesitancy problem in UK healthcare for which mandatory vaccination is an appropriate solution? Data suggesting pockets of poor uptake of covid-19 vaccination among care home staff led the government to make vaccination compulsory, abandoning a targeted but voluntary approach. The government\u2019s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) has not published a recommended minimum acceptable level of staff vaccination for healthcare settings, but over 80% of frontline healthcare workers in NHS trusts have now received two vaccine doses,4 reaching over 90% in some trusts. The level of risk posed by the remaining minority is unlikely to justify policy change at a national level.<\/p>\n

Vaccination is already compulsory for staff working in healthcare settings in France and Italy. However, both countries have a history of compulsory vaccinations in response to substantial vaccine hesitancy and outbreaks of vaccine preventable infections such as measles. In Italy, legislation introducing compulsory childhood vaccinations was followed by a decrease in the incidence of measles and rubella. Nevertheless, this policy is under review and may be made more flexible depending on regional vaccine coverage.<\/p>\n

The full text of the article is available in the\u00a0BMJ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DOI:\u00a0https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmj.n1975<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an article published in the British Medical Journal, we discuss the topic of vaccinating healthcare workers against Covid-19. Our conclusion is that compulsion is unnecessary and inappropriate. Parliament\u2019s decision to make vaccination against covid-19 a condition of employment for care home workers has fuelled the debate around compulsory vaccination for healthcare workers, which may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1115,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[296231,404],"tags":[269809],"class_list":["post-684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-health","tag-vaccination"],"yoast_head":"\nVaccinating healthcare workers against Covid-19 - Medical Centre<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/medical-centre\/2021\/08\/12\/vaccinating-healthcare-workers-against-covid-19\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vaccinating healthcare workers against Covid-19 - Medical Centre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an article published in the British Medical Journal, we discuss the topic of vaccinating healthcare workers against Covid-19. 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