• Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a hospital in Colchester, eastern England. AFP
    Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a hospital in Colchester, eastern England. AFP
  • Boris Johnson speaks to patient Lewis Clark as he visits Colchester hospital. AFP
    Boris Johnson speaks to patient Lewis Clark as he visits Colchester hospital. AFP
  • People shop and go about their daily life in Bolton town centre as surge testing and rapid coronavirus vaccinations continue. Getty Images
    People shop and go about their daily life in Bolton town centre as surge testing and rapid coronavirus vaccinations continue. Getty Images
  • Shoppers walk through an arcade in Bedford. Bloomberg
    Shoppers walk through an arcade in Bedford. Bloomberg
  • A temporary coronavirus testing centre is set up in Bolton. AP Photo
    A temporary coronavirus testing centre is set up in Bolton. AP Photo
  • A passenger wearing a face mask walks along the platform as an underground train approaches, in London. AP Photo
    A passenger wearing a face mask walks along the platform as an underground train approaches, in London. AP Photo
  • Children play in the street as gunners from the Royal Horse Artillery distribute Covid-19 PCR tests to local residents in Bolton. Getty Images
    Children play in the street as gunners from the Royal Horse Artillery distribute Covid-19 PCR tests to local residents in Bolton. Getty Images
  • Health workers prepare to assist at an NHS Covid-19 testing unit at the Civic Centre in Uxbridge, Hillingdon, west London. AFP
    Health workers prepare to assist at an NHS Covid-19 testing unit at the Civic Centre in Uxbridge, Hillingdon, west London. AFP

Europe

UK considers making Covid-19 vaccine compulsory for health workers

Vaccines minister believes move could be necessary to ensure the most vulnerable are protected

The National

May 30, 2021

  • English
  • Arabic

Britain could make it compulsory for medical workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

“It would be incumbent on any responsible government to have the debate, to do the thinking as to how we go about protecting the most vulnerable by making sure that those who look after them are vaccinated," Britain's Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News.

"There is precedent for this; obviously surgeons get vaccinated for hepatitis B. So it's something that we are absolutely thinking about."

Under the current road map, the final stage of lockdown restrictions are due to be lifted in England on June 21.

But there are fears that rising case numbers of the Indian variant of the virus could force a delay, even with evidence suggesting that vaccines were effective in preventing serious illness from the strain.

Cases of the variant doubled to almost 7,000 in Britain last week, compared to the week before.

“We will share the evidence with the country on June 14 to basically explain exactly where we are on infection rates, on hospitalisation, and of course, sadly, on deaths," Mr Zahawi said.

"We have to be cautious; we have to look at the data and share it with the country.”

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times reported that British intelligence services believe it is "feasible" that the pandemic began last year because of a lab leak in Wuhan, China.

Beijing has repeatedly rejected such claims.

  • Staff prepare to give the Covid vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech to patients at a vaccination centre set up inside Salisbury Cathedral, England. Getty Images
    Staff prepare to give the Covid vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech to patients at a vaccination centre set up inside Salisbury Cathedral, England. Getty Images
  • An aerial view of the Etihad tennis centre, being used as a mass vaccination and drive-through Covid testing centre, in Manchester. Getty Images
    An aerial view of the Etihad tennis centre, being used as a mass vaccination and drive-through Covid testing centre, in Manchester. Getty Images
  • People queue outside a vaccination centre at the Science Museum in London. Reuters
    People queue outside a vaccination centre at the Science Museum in London. Reuters
  • Prince William speaks to a member of staff during a visit to the Covid-19 vaccination centre at Westminster Abbey in London. Getty Images
    Prince William speaks to a member of staff during a visit to the Covid-19 vaccination centre at Westminster Abbey in London. Getty Images
  • Heath workers queue for a vaccine in the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley. The museum was made famous as a set for the television show 'Peaky Blinders.' Getty Images
    Heath workers queue for a vaccine in the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley. The museum was made famous as a set for the television show 'Peaky Blinders.' Getty Images
  • A nurse draws up a dose as members of the public receive their Covid-19 vaccinations at Lichfield Cathedral, Staffordshire. Getty Images
    A nurse draws up a dose as members of the public receive their Covid-19 vaccinations at Lichfield Cathedral, Staffordshire. Getty Images
  • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson carries doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for mobile distribution at Barnet FC's football stadium, The Hive in north London. Getty Images
    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson carries doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for mobile distribution at Barnet FC's football stadium, The Hive in north London. Getty Images
  • People arrive to receive the Covid vaccine made by AstraZeneca-Oxford at Battersea Arts Centre, south-west London. Getty Images
    People arrive to receive the Covid vaccine made by AstraZeneca-Oxford at Battersea Arts Centre, south-west London. Getty Images
  • A vaccination centre at Bristol City FC's Ashton Gate stadium. Getty Images
    A vaccination centre at Bristol City FC's Ashton Gate stadium. Getty Images
  • Vaccinators are given a last-minute instructional talk before Northern Ireland's largest Covid-19 vaccination centre opens at the Odyssey SSE Arena in Belfast. Getty Images
    Vaccinators are given a last-minute instructional talk before Northern Ireland's largest Covid-19 vaccination centre opens at the Odyssey SSE Arena in Belfast. Getty Images
  • People leave a mobile vaccination centre set up on a bus in Bolton. Getty Images
    People leave a mobile vaccination centre set up on a bus in Bolton. Getty Images
  • Members of the public queue to receive the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine at an NHS vaccination centre set up at Epsom racecourse. Getty Images
    Members of the public queue to receive the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine at an NHS vaccination centre set up at Epsom racecourse. Getty Images
  • The Riverside Stadium, home of Middlesbrough FC, opens as a Covid-19 vaccination centre. Getty Images
    The Riverside Stadium, home of Middlesbrough FC, opens as a Covid-19 vaccination centre. Getty Images
  • Members of the public wait to receive a does at a temporary vaccine centre set up at City Hall in Hull. AFP
    Members of the public wait to receive a does at a temporary vaccine centre set up at City Hall in Hull. AFP

Tom Tugendhat, head of the UK Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said “the silence coming from Wuhan is troubling”.

"We need to open the crypt and see what happened to be able to protect ourselves in the future," he said.

He said that means starting an investigation "with partners around the world" and in the World Health Organisation.

Mr Zahawi said it was crucial “that the WHO is allowed to conduct its investigation unencumbered into the origins of this pandemic and we should leave no stone unturned to understand why”.

A joint report by the WHO and Chinese scientists into the origins of the pandemic released in March said the coronavirus probably came to humans from animals.

But a number of countries, including the UK and US, criticised that investigation, complaining about difficulties over access to data in China.

EuropeUKCoronavirus