UK Health Secretary faces heated question from NHS doctor over mandatory COVID vaccination

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who was on a visit to King's College Hospital in south London has faced a debate from an NHS doctor over the compulsory vaccination for health care staff. According to Sky News, Javid was challenged by unvaccinated hospital staff when he asked about their views on the government policy on compulsory vaccination. While replying to Javid, a consultant anaesthetist Steve James said he was not happy with the recent announcement made for the NHS staff. According to him, James has been treating patients since the first wave of the COVID pandemic hit the country. He told Javid that he had been infected with the highly-infectious virus and therefore developed antibodies with their own.

Have a look at tweet of Javid here:

The consultant anaesthetist claimed he has not contracted the virus even though he has not been administered the COVID vaccine. "I'm not happy about that. I had COVID at some point, I've got antibodies, and I've been working on COVID ICU since the beginning," Sky News quoted Steve James as saying. "I have not had a vaccination, I do not want to have a vaccination. The vaccines are reducing transmission only for about eight weeks for Delta, with Omicron it's probably less. And for that, I would be dismissed if I don't have a vaccine? The science isn't strong enough," he added.

Meanwhile, replying to the displeasure raised by the consultant anaesthetist, the UK Health Secretary said, "I respect that, but there are so many different views. I understand it, and obviously, we, have to weigh all that up for both health and social care, and there will always be a debate about it." 

"I respect your views and more than that I respect everything you're doing here and the lives you're saving," the health secretary added.

NHS facing severe staff shortage despite fair vaccination rate

It is worth mentioning that the United Kingdom is reeling under the new COVID variant, Omicron, for the past month. Since then, the National Health Service (NHS) has been experiencing a severe shortage of healthcare staff. According to a press statement released by the NHS, the second-largest single-payer healthcare system in the world, the country is experiencing the highest number of COVID absences since the vaccine rollout began last year. The UK health agency said that nearly 40,000 people reported COVID-related symptoms and did not return to their respective workplaces. As per the data proferred by the NHS, more than 35,000 healthcare staff members were sick with COVID in a span of just one week. The data has put a significant question on the COVID vaccine as nearly 90% of the NHS staff are vaccinated with both the doses and 60% had the booster jabs.

(Image: Twitter/@sajidjavid)