Should vaccine be mandatory for healthcare staff in nursing homes?

[Oohthedrama]

I heard on the radio yesterday that last week in Ireland, nearly half of the staff in one nursing home down the country had refused the vaccine.
so should it be mandatory to have a vaccine when working with the elderly?

Also, this is from an Irish examiner article yesterday.....

“some nursing homes conducted raffles and offered cash prizes in a bid to encourage staff to get vaccinated“

controversial topic, but I’d love to see how people feel about both things.

 

[Pixipoppy]

I heard on the radio yesterday that last week in Ireland, nearly half of the staff in one nursing home down the country had refused the vaccine.
so should it be mandatory to have a vaccine when working with the elderly?

Also, this is from an Irish examiner article yesterday.....

“some nursing homes conducted raffles and offered cash prizes in a bid to encourage staff to get vaccinated“

controversial topic, but I’d love to see how people feel about both things.

They do that with the flu jab in my health board - there’s a prize for the team that has the most uptake and I’m sure they were entering people into a raffle at one point when uptake was low

 

[LittleMy]

I think if you want to work with vulnerable people, yes, it should be mandatory. You have a duty of care to those people who are in the most “at risk” groups, and also a duty of care to yourself. It’s your choice to be in that profession, but they do not always get to choose the people who look after them. The more people that are vaccinated in that type of setting the better. I’ve seen Covid tear through my workplace, if it can be prevented in any way then it should.

Just my opinion. Not saying it’s wrong or right, it’s a controversial subject.

 

[JLXRD]

Ooooh, controversial but I will bite

I do not think anyone should be made to have the vaccine, however I am very confused when healthcare professionals do not want to take it. I don’t mean do not want to take it now, but do not want to take it full stop. Because ‘their immune systems will save them from a virus with a 99.9% survival rate virus’ or whatever the line is.

Surely if you are in healthcare you have compassion and a desire to care for others? So the fact that you will be fine is great, but what about your patients well being? (Especially now there are studies supporting vaccination cuts transmission.)

Secondly as a healthcare worker I feel you should have some trust and understanding of medicines, so I’m unsure why you would think there was something sinister in this? Unless you are an anti vaxxer full stop in which case I don’t think you should be in healthcare at all. Appreciate working in a care home is mostly not a clinical role though unless you are a nurse.

So I guess I have no problem with people waiting but healthcare workers flat out refusing is confusing to me for those reasons.

 

[Pinkblush]

I'd be interested to know what family members of the elderly residents in these homes think.

I used to work part time in a residential home when I was younger and because of things like age range/medical health conditions of residents you don't expect to have them to be residing there long term, so I wonder how it will affect business when they can't fill rooms because families interested in placing a relative decline when they find out the staff team aren't vaccinated.

Watch these care homes change tac when money or funding or job losses are threatened because they can't fill spaces.

 

[Pixipoppy]

I think a lot of people’s decision to decline the vaccine is purely out of a sense of control. People feel very out of control at the moment and declining the vaccine may make them feel like they have some sort of say in what is happening. I’ve had it now but I did go through a phase of “I don’t need the vaccine they can’t make me have it !” But then I realise it’s nbd. When I trained I had to get about 7 vaccines in the space of a month and I didn’t even question it, but now suddenly it seems sinister. I think the media has a lot to answer for too!

 

[monga]

If the vaccine is only to protect the host I don't see how it would protect people you care for anyway you can still spread it vacced or not ? if the OAP's have been vacced they would have protection against covid disease unless they fall into the percentage that won't benefit from it .

 

[LittleMy]

If the vaccine is only to protect the host I don't see how it would protect people you care for anyway you can still spread it vacced or not ? if the OAP's have been vacced they would have protection against covid disease unless they fall into the percentage that won't benefit from it .

I think the point is that the more people that are vaccinated overall, the less likely it is to mutate and become a bigger threat. If the hosts are protected from taking it badly, maybe through time it will weaken. I could be wrong, I’m no expert (I don’t have a Daily Mail article ).

 

[JLXRD]

If the vaccine is only to protect the host I don't see how it would protect people you care for anyway you can still spread it vacced or not ? if the OAP's have been vacced they would have protection against covid disease unless they fall into the percentage that won't benefit from it .

Studies show the Oxford vaccine lessens transmission up to 67%, so you are protecting others by getting the vaccine too, not just yourself.

It is expected the other vaccines will have the same if not better results.

 

[Wanttoseethescreenshots]

I personally feel that they are working with the most vulnerable of people and the people most likely to die or have serious complications from the illness and that they should get it (if it stops transmission, if not then maybe my view would be different as there wouldn’t be as much point). If I had elderly relatives in care homes I would hope the people working there had taken all possible steps to keep them as safe as possible!

 

[Makeupartist23]

Nope I don’t think anybody should be forced I currently work in a residential care home in a senior role most of my residents have had it yet some have refused to have it as they can’t see the point as they say there old now and lived there life. I’d say 90 percent of staff have had the vaccine there’s about 5 of us that haven’t had it I’m one of the ones that haven’t.

my reasons for not having the vaccine was purely down to reading the anti Vaxers views online and being genuinely scared of what was being wrote. however I have recently changed my mind after looking into the vaccines myself and will be having the Oxford vaccine in the next few days.

The care industry struggles to retain staff due to the poor pay and it genuinely being hard work especially when working with dementia so I doubt it would ever get to a point where you would be forced to get it. During the pandemic I haven’t had a day off or took any holiday due to staff leaving or isolating.

we had 8 residents die in my home 4 of them were on my shift and I sat with them while they passed. It’s been mentally and physically draining over the last year so it makes me sad when people suggest carers being forced or someone mentioning maybe it should be mandatory for them to have the vaccine when there are some of us that have worked so hard over the past year to make sure our residents have been fed washed and had medication and even gone the extra mile by bringing in old laptops and tablets so they can speak to families.

please remember you clapped for carers last year we won’t be getting a pay rise this year as my company are talking about freezing pay we get a few pence over minimum wage now we didn’t get any bonus for coming into work when majority of the country was being paid to be at home and even when we have tested positive up until last week my company was giving ssp with a 40 pound covid top up I also get swabbed 3 times a week sometimes coming in on my day off to make sure I’m not bringing anything into the home

sorry it’s so long just my opinion x

 

[monga]

Studies show the Oxford vaccine lessens transmission up to 67%, so you are protecting others by getting the vaccine too, not just yourself.

It is expected the other vaccines will have the same if not better results.

They think ,nothing confirmed yet . They're focusing on it protecting the person that has the jab anything else will be a bonus according to our CMO .

I think the point is that the more people that are vaccinated overall, the less likely it is to mutate and become a bigger threat. If the hosts are protected from taking it badly, maybe through time it will weaken. I could be wrong, I’m no expert (I don’t have a Daily Mail article ).

That's herd immunity the world has to be vacced for that to take place over a number of years .

 

[JLXRD]

They think ,nothing confirmed yet . They're focusing on it protecting the person that has the jab anything else will be a bonus according to our CMO .

True it’s being reviewed by the lancet still but it is a real study, not just someone’s musings on the internet

Single dose of AstraZeneca vaccine could cut transmission by 67%

One jab could also offer protection of up to 76% for up to 12 weeks, a new study shows

www.theguardian.com

 

[monga]

Nope I don’t think anybody should be forced I currently work in a residential care home in a senior role most of my residents have had it yet some have refused to have it as they can’t see the point as they say there old now and lived there life. I’d say 90 percent of staff have had the vaccine there’s about 5 of us that haven’t had it I’m one of the ones that haven’t.

my reasons for not having the vaccine was purely down to reading the anti Vaxers views online and being genuinely scared of what was being wrote. however I have recently changed my mind after looking into the vaccines myself and will be having the Oxford vaccine in the next few days.

The care industry struggles to retain staff due to the poor pay and it genuinely being hard work especially when working with dementia so I doubt it would ever get to a point where you would be forced to get it. During the pandemic I haven’t had a day off or took any holiday due to staff leaving or isolating.

we had 8 residents die in my home 4 of them were on my shift and I sat with them while they passed. It’s been mentally and physically draining over the last year so it makes me sad when people suggest carers being forced or someone mentioning maybe it should be mandatory for them to have the vaccine when there are some of us that have worked so hard over the past year to make sure our residents have been fed washed and had medication and even gone the extra mile by bringing in old laptops and tablets so they can speak to families.

please remember you clapped for carers last year we won’t be getting a pay rise this year as my company are talking about freezing pay we get a few pence over minimum wage now we didn’t get any bonus for coming into work when majority of the country was being paid to be at home and even when we have tested positive up until last week my company was giving ssp with a 40 pound covid top up I also get swabbed 3 times a week sometimes coming in on my day off to make sure I’m not bringing anything into the home

sorry it’s so long just my opinion x

I've relatives in care homes one run by the health trust and most of the staff have not taken it they've left it up to them to decide.

True it’s being reviewed by the lancet still but it is a real study, not just someone’s musings on the internet

Single dose of AstraZeneca vaccine could cut transmission by 67%

One jab could also offer protection of up to 76% for up to 12 weeks, a new study shows

www.theguardian.com

Yes I know but the real world trials are the proof I believe even JVT and Whitty have said that isn't that why they're looking to the Israeli data for comparison.

 

[Tublet83]

Should it be made public how many staff have been vaccinated like you do over how many members of staff have certain training?

I wouldn’t want to put a family member in a care home if only 25% of staff had been vaccinated?

 

[Oohthedrama]

I didn’t add my own view.

if you’re not comfortable accepting a vaccine and you’re working in healthcare almost a year into a pandemic.

It might be time to look for another job.

 

[JLXRD]

Should it be made public how many staff have been vaccinated like you do over how many members of staff have certain training?

I wouldn’t want to put a family member in a care home if only 25% of staff had been vaccinated?

It’s awkward though because when I worked in a care home i was never offered a flu vaccine and if I had taken flu in it would probably have killed residents.

I know it’s not flu but it is always likened to it, so I think they would have to start clamping down on that too in order to be consistent.

 

[LittleMy]

The thing is, in our profession carers come and go all the time for whatever reason. If you don’t want to be vaccinated, go somewhere else to work where you’re not responsible for looking after vulnerable/elderly people. I’m a carer, and I’ve also had family members of my own go into care settings due to being vulnerable and elderly. There is enough guilt around putting them there in the first place, knowing that the staff have taken measures to protect themselves and my relative would make that decision slightly easier in these times.

 

[Unagi]

Absolutely not. Nobody should be made to get an experimental vaccine. Who will be held liable if there is an adverse reaction that results in the individual being unable to carry out activities of daily living or worse case death? No one will! So if someone chooses not to have the vaccine that is their god given right to do as they choose with their own body.

 

[LittleMy]

Absolutely not. Nobody should be made to get an experimental vaccine. Who will be held liable if there is an adverse reaction that results in the individual being unable to carry out activities of daily living or worse case death? No one will! So if someone chooses not to have the vaccine that is their god given right to do as they choose with their own body.

Of course it is, but then should they be allowed to care for vulnerable, elderly people and potentially put them at risk? That is the question. Nobody’s going around sticking needles in people against their will, but should there be consequences to being unwilling to have the vaccine and working in care among those most at risk? Probably.

I’ve always found it strange that having the flu vaccine was never made compulsory for people working in the healthcare sector. So many elderly people die from the flu and complications every year.