Coronavirus
Because they are not vaccinated – 50,000 nurses in England fear for their jobs
Every vaccinated nurse is urgently needed in the old people’s and nursing homes and also in the facilities of the NHS health service. There are already too few staff there
© Kirsty O’Connor / Picture Alliance
Anyone who has not been vaccinated against the coronavirus in England is risking their job. An initial deadline has now passed for employees in nursing homes.
Vaccinated or not vaccinated – in England that now also decides whether you can keep your job or not: As of Thursday, tens of thousands of unvaccinated nurses are no longer allowed to work in homes in this part of Great Britain. The deadline set by the government to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus has now passed.
According to estimates by the British media, more than 50,000 workers in old people’s and nursing homes have so far not taken advantage of the offer to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. More than half of them are said to have received at least one dose so far. A few thousand have requested exemptions because they could not be vaccinated for medical reasons. The exact, official figures should be released in the afternoon.
In addition, by April, employees of the NHS health service in England have to prove that they are fully vaccinated. Health Minister Sajid Javid announced in the British Parliament on Tuesday that anyone who works on the front line of the NHS and has not been fully vaccinated by then is risking their job.
England wants to prevent the spread of Corona in care facilities
The compulsory vaccination for caregivers not only protects lives, but also the NHS, Javid argued. His employees also have a special responsibility.
According to the Minister of Health, around 80 to 90 percent of NHS staff in England are fully vaccinated, depending on the region. That means around 80,000 to 100,000 NHS workers are not vaccinated – and many wonder what happens to the NHS if they lose their jobs.
The hospitals already have long waiting lists because many treatments have been postponed due to the pandemic. “The NHS is already under great pressure this winter, we know there are nearly six million on waiting lists,” Labor Party health spokesman Jonathan Ashworth said this week. He warned that government policies, “laudable as they are in principle,” may exacerbate some of the chronic problems of understaffing.
According to the Daily Telegraph, 11,688 people fell ill with Covid-19 and died after being admitted to NHS hospitals in England for other illnesses. The British government is only responsible for health policy in England, in the other parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the local governments are responsible.
There are already too few employees in old people’s and nursing homes
In the old people’s and nursing homes, where the vaccination has been mandatory for employees since Thursday, the unvaccinated employees are now threatened with losing their jobs. They can also be moved to places where they have no contact with residents. As the “Guardian” reported, some homes are already feeling the shortage of nurses. Numerous beds could no longer be operated. Associations and unions have therefore been calling for the deadline to be extended to April until the end.
According to the National Care Forum, an average of 3.5 percent of employees have already given notice or been made redundant because of the vaccination regulations. This number will continue to rise, it said. The Ministry of Health, however, emphasized that the obligation had caused the number of vaccinations to skyrocket – for the first vaccination from 80 to 94 percent of employees in the industry.
See in the video: Jens Spahn calls for uniform corona rules for Germany in the early start of n-tv. The health minister sees the biggest problem in the high number of those who have not been vaccinated – and the growing anger among those who have been vaccinated.