Doctor Confronts U.K. Health Secretary Over Senseless Vaccine Mandate

Keneci Channel

United Kingdom parliament voted last month, to make vaccinations mandatory for National Health Service workers, and the legal requirement for staff to be fully vaccinated is set to come into effect from April 1.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid during a visit to King's College Hospital in south London, asked staff members on the intensive care unit about their thoughts on the new vaccine mandate rules.

"I'm not happy about that," Steve James, a consultant anaesthetist who revealed that some of his colleagues have the same concerns, said to Javid. "I had COVID at some point, I've got antibodies, and I've been working on COVID ICU since the beginning. 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."

Responding, Javid acknowledged the controversial nature of the policy. "I respect that, but there's also many different views," he said. "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."

James suggested that government consider natural immunity from coronavirus infection, in implementing the vaccine mandate given the "changing picture" of the pandemic.

The doctor also told the health secretary that it “didn’t make sense” to dismiss doctors who don't want to get the jab because they already contracted the coronavirus infection, and now have superior natural immunity. “The protection that I’ve got from transmission is probably the equivalent to someone who is vaccinated,” James said.

Javid said that the government takes the “very best advice” from vaccine experts. “I respect your views and more than that I respect everything you’re doing here and the lives you’re saving,” he told Mr James.

In a statement, a King's College Hospital spokesperson said: "While currently it is not a mandatory requirement for staff to get their COVID-19 vaccination or disclose vaccine status to patients, we strongly support and encourage all our staff to get their jab, in line with national guidance - and nearly 90% of our staff have already done so."

WATCH Steve James confront Sajid Javid...