Frontline NHS staff are reportedly refusing the simple flu jab with almost nine in 10 at one of England’s largest hospital trusts left unvaccinated last winter. Flu is one of the nation’s biggest viral killers, with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warning a slowing uptake of vaccinations in the general public has led to at least 18,000 deaths in the past two years.
During the Covid pandemic the government fought a running battle with medical unions over mandatory Covid vaccines for all frontline nurses, doctors and workers in healthcare settings. The push to force workers to take the jab was later revoked after a determined campaign from the likes of the British Medical Association (BMA) union and and other groups.
But the Times reports ripples of so-called “vaccine fatigue” from the Covid era has led to hospital groups like Barts Health Trust, which has more than 18,750 staff working in six hospitals in east London, vaccinating just 12.9% of frontline staff with a flu jab.
One senior consultant at Barts Health Trust, who had the jab, told The Times they were shocked at the low percentage of staff getting jabbed. They said: “I had mine from avaccine champion who visited different clinical areas to vaccinate staff.” Managers needed to do better, they said, adding: “They should be spending summer finding out why staff didn’t get it, rather than just doing the same again next winter.”
Overall across the NHS uptake of the flu vaccine has plummeted to 35%, the lowest take-up for 15 years. Flu is a huge headache for hospitals and the virus can be rife at winter time when it can prove fatal for patients, especially the elderly, who are already suffering from other ailments.
Heidi Larson, a professor of anthropology and founding director of the VaccineConfidence Project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the Times: “The number of NHS staff getting vaccinated is very low, it is worrying, it’s a mix of things going on.
“A lot of people were kind of bullied, almost, in a positive sense, to get the first Covid dose in the UK. It was very successful but there was this sense of control and people have said in our studies they resented taking that vaccine.”
Just before the pandemic, then Health Secretary Matt Hancock, said it vaccinations should become mandatory for flu for staff in the NHS. He said at the time: “It is wrong for any frontline NHS staff not to be vaccinated against flu without a good medical reason. This is an essential measure to ensure that both patients and staff are protected.”
Caroline Alexander, chief nurse at Barts, said: “We understand that vaccine fatigue and hesitancy is a real concern for staff … we have been actively working to address it through a targeted communications campaign in collaboration with NHS England aimed at dispelling myths and building trust around vaccines.”
