New NHS vaccine staff not guaranteed inoculation before job begins

‘I’m more exposed and it worries me a little, even though I have no underlying conditions,’ one new worker says

New vaccine workers are not guaranteed to receive the jab themselves before starting work, The Independent has learnt.  

Amid government promises of a widespread vaccine rollout, NHS England is hiring across the country for people to become Covid-19 vaccinators.  

However, while people taking this role will be prioritised for the vaccine by virtue of becoming a frontline healthcare worker, they are not guaranteed to receive it before they start.  

This could leave the workers – who are required to wear full PPE for the duration of their shift – at risk of catching coronavirus.  

It comes as tens of thousands of doctors and nurses are off work because of coronavirus, with almost half of staff absences being due to the virus. A surge in infections partly due to a new strain has left the NHS near breaking point.

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The first vaccine was administered on 8 December, and since then nearly 1 million people have received a jab, according to the latest government data. 

For the current nationwide lockdown to be eased, Boris Johnson has said that all care home residents, those over 80, and frontline health care workers must be offered the inoculation by mid-February. This equates to 13 million people.  

One person who has recently been approved to join the NHS vaccine effort, and who asked to remain anonymous, told The Independent about their fears of remaining unvaccinated.

“I assumed that I may be able to get the vaccine given my new role and how my chance of getting Covid would be higher compared to other people, both due to regular travel to the clinic via public transport and working with people all day in hospitals or surgeries,” they said. "I’m more exposed and it worries me a little, even though I have no underlying conditions.

“I personally feel as if frontline vaccinators should have the option of getting the vaccine – we should be aiming to get as many people vaccinated as we can. If these vaccinators catch Covid and have to self-isolate it could potentially affect the vaccine roll-out, which is crucial to get out of the lockdown.”

Professor Sheena Cruickshank, an immunologist at the University of Manchester, told The Independent that "not being vaccinated could put [workers] and potentially the patients at a degree of risk of the infection.

She added: “However, if contact is short [and] adequate PPE is provided and used, then the risk for both parties is minimal. I understand given the need to vaccinate as many high-risk groups as possible that there will be prioritisation for doses for those people then that means hard decisions may be being made about who should receive the vaccines in the first instance.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “The NHS is working hard to roll out the vaccine over the coming months, focussing between now and mid-February on the first four priority groups identified by the JCVI, which includes health care workers and vaccinators."

The spokesperson confirmed that healthcare workers and volunteers would be invited to receive the vaccine “as quickly as possible”, and all those involved in vaccination services – whether or not they have received a jab – will be given, and need to use, appropriate PPE to ensure the safety of staff, volunteers and patients.