The government must hasten the rollout of the vaccine among care and health workers

Editorial: According to Matt Hancock, a third of social care staff are not yet vaccinated – now is not the time for complacency

The Oxford vaccine administered in Chester (AFP/Getty)

In the 10 weeks or so since Britain became the first country in the world to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, some 15 million people have received their vital first jab.

The nation is well on its way to protecting the most vulnerable groups and there are encouraging signs that all over-50s who want a jab will have been offered the opportunity by the end of March.

The stock market and Tory spin doctors have perked up on the news. This rare “world-beating” performance has proved a remarkable tonic for Boris Johnson’s popularity. He shouldn’t, obviously, claim too large a slice of the credit for this victory, but it may be too much for him and his ministers to resist.

The good news is that the UK, so far ahead in its vaccination programme, is heading for release from lockdown sooner than many other comparable countries, and sooner than many had hoped. But there are still dangers, including the new variants and a too-hasty lifting of controls. The pace may also slow as second doses become due; but the mood, like the weather, is brightening.

It is all the more dispiriting, then, and disturbing, that vaccine take-up among care and health workers has sometimes lagged behind. According to the health secretary Matt Hancock a third of social care staff are not yet vaccinated.

No doubt some may not have been reached because of local problems in distribution, though the anecdotal evidence is that this is uncommon. Others may be examples of what is officially called “vaccine hesitancy”. Disinformation is an obvious scourge in this area – and one we must continue to fight.

Such a situation is obviously unwelcome in hospitals, clinics or GP surgeries. The government must therefore do more to hasten the rollout of the vaccine among care and health workers, ensuring maximum take-up. The efficiency of the vaccine programme has so far been impressive but now is not the time for complacency.

It is still relatively early days in the biggest vaccination undertaking in NHS history, of course, but evidence of 15 million and more people undergoing inoculation with few side effects, and none serious, ought to act as public education in itself.

The contribution of family doctors, experts, religious leaders, celebrities and the media remains crucial, though, to achieving mass vaccination and securing the best possible level of herd immunity, and to return everyone’s life to normal.