UK Care Home Staff and Vaccination

The deaths of older people in UK care homes, in the first wave of the Covid19 pandemic, was scandalous. The death rate was exacerbated, by the transfer of untested hospital patients, into care homes.This was to 'free up beds' in anticipation of an increased need for intensive care. Belatedly, the UK government show concern for care home residents. They now plan to make Covid19 vaccinations mandatory for care home staff (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/16/all-care-home-staff-in-england-should-have-covid-vaccine-says-minister). Overall, 84% of English care home staff have been vaccinated. The uptake of vaccination has, however, been very patchy. Some 77,000 care workers, in older people's homes, who are eligible, have not even had a first jab. In some parts of London, this is true of a third of staff. The proposal to make vaccination compulsory, however, raises all sorts of issues about the rights of people in a poorly-paid and ethnically-diverse sector. It has even been suggested, that, in some locations, making jabs mandatory, will lead to a mass exodus of staff. That would reduce the quality of care that residents of care homes receive. Protection of a vulnerable cohort (the elderly) ought to be the prime consideration. This was not the case, in the first wave of the pandemic in the UK (although decision-makers had been pre-warned by the experiences of Italy and Spain). It seems not unreasonable to require care workers to be protected against contracting and passing on Covid19 infections. Afterall, you wouldn't allow someone who needed a cataract operation, to drive a bus, on the basis that they didn't want their eyes touched. Having said that, finance should be directed to convincing care workers and compensation offered, for loss of employment. Afterall, the need to be vaccinated, wasn't in their initial contracts.