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![]() The publisher Bloomsbury will make vaccines compulsory for UK staff. ![]() Goldman Sachs told US workers they must disclose their vaccination status to their managers. These are all considerations that apply as much to the private sector as to the public. Around 75-80% of frontline workers, doctors, nurses, clinical and support staff were vaccinated, but in some smaller trusts, levels were only 40% even among doctors, and lower still among support staff. In a Royal Society report, we mapped seasonal flu vaccine uptake among healthcare workers in England in 2019-20. A recent study found that the UK has the highest vaccine confidence internationally at almost 90%. In countries with no option for non-medical vaccination exemption (for example no ethical anti-vaccination clause), the incidence of measles was significantly lower.Īnother consideration before implementing any kind of mandatory programme here in the UK would be the extent of the problem the solution is trying to address: we don’t want to use a metaphorical sledgehammer to crack a walnut. A recent study found that mandatory vaccine policies for preventable diseases such as measles increased uptake and lowered measles incidence. When France and Italy faced a measles outbreak, they made childhood vaccinations mandatory in 2017-18, although the Italian mandate was later repealed. But financial disincentives are not always effective since many objectors have relatively high socioeconomic resources. In 2016, six months after the Australian government brought in the “no jab, no pay” policy (no vaccination, no family tax benefits), there were record highs of vaccination of young children in previously hard-to-vaccinate groups. The US and Australia have long mandated vaccination for entry into school to increase and sustain vaccination rates. New medical staff carrying out certain procedures are required to prove they are non-infectious for hepatitis B, C and HIV and are offered a hepatitis B vaccination. There are precedents for mandatory vaccination programmes. It exposes that 12-year-old who hasn’t been offered the vaccine, the young waiter who hasn’t had her second jab yet and the delivery driver who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. But being unvaccinated and returning to a crowded workplace not only means you are driving without a seatbelt, but it removes the seatbelt of those around you. But where do we draw the line between individual freedom of beliefs and the rights of others? You can choose not to wear a seatbelt and if you crash, you might die. Rather, some are legitimately concerned about the mission creep of government and employers infringing into personal lives. Those against mandatory vaccinations are not necessarily anti-vaxx or even unvaccinated. Countries like the UK and the US have libertarian roots and value individual freedom.
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