Compulsory vaccinations: sensible or coercive?

In England, COVID-19 vaccinations are to become compulsory for staff in care homes the Secretary of State for Health has announced. This proposal could be extended to other sectors of health and social care. Opinion is split in the profession and among the public over mandatory vaccinations.

The Department of Health Social Care hosted a 5-week long consultation regarding proposals to make COVID-19 vaccination a condition of work. The proposal is to amend regulations so that older adult care home providers are required to deploy only those staff who have received their COVID-19 vaccination in accordance with government guidance. This requirement will not include those staff who are able to provide evidence of a medical exemption from COVID-19 vaccination. It is also the government's intention to amend the Code of Practice (Department of Health [DH], 2015) on the prevention and control of infections to provide an explanation of the requirement.