Tax now or later?
After procrastinating, the British government announced on Tuesday the introduction of the vaccination obligation for public health service caregivers against Covid-19 in England from April 1.
After a consultation on the issue, "I have come to the conclusion that all those who work for the NHS", the public health service, "will have to be vaccinated," the Minister of Justice told Parliament. Health Sajid Javid.
Those who do not work in contact with patients or cannot be vaccinated for health reasons will be exempt.
"No one should be singled out"
"No one" in the NHS or in the care sector who is not vaccinated "should be considered a scapegoat" or "pointed out", he continued, insisting on pedagogy to convince the reluctant .
They would be between 80,000 and 100,000.
According to the latest official data, "90% of NHS staff have received at least two doses" of the vaccine, although in some hospitals, "the figure is closer to 80%".
Despite everything, they will not have the obligation to be vaccinated before winter, which the government fears difficult, fearing a resumption of Covid cases associated with other seasonal viruses such as influenza.
Read also Covid-19: the British government renounces the vaccine passport
Employees of retirement homes in England had been asked to be fully vaccinated against the disease before Thursday.
The NHS has nearly 1.2 million employees, including more than 627,000 caregivers.
Several countries have already implemented the vaccination obligation for caregivers, including France, Italy and Greece.
The United States has introduced this requirement for federal employees and contractors of federal agencies, personnel of nursing homes receiving federal grants and schools under federal control.
In the UK, each of the four nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) decides its own policy on the subject.
The UK vaccination program has started much faster than the rest of Europe, with nearly 80% of UK residents over the age of 12 now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
A penalizing advance
But this advance, for some experts, penalizes the country.
The first people vaccinated, the most fragile, now experience a decline in immunity to the virus, a fact made even worse by the massive use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is less effective than that of its competitors.
The British government launched its recall campaign in mid-September, open to people over 50 and caregivers, Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressing on Monday that these recalls were “key” tools to avoid overcrowding hospitals this winter.
The United Kingdom is already one of the most bereaved countries in Europe by the pandemic with nearly 142,000 dead.