19 January 2021

Federation Chair empahises the need for officers to be vaccianted as more Dorset officers fall sick with Covid

The Chair of Dorset Police Federation has taken to the airwaves to emphasise calls for police officers to be prioritised to receive Covid vaccinations after more officers fell ill with the virus.

Anna Harvey appeared on BBC Radio Solent this morning (19 January) to speak out on behalf of two Dorset Police officers who are “really poorly”.

The officers, a 40-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman, contracted Covid-19 days after policing a high-profile anti-lockdown rally in Bournemouth.

She told Steve Harris: “We can’t say that they definitely contracted coronavirus at that protest but we can say that officers are going into people’s houses, are dealing with people who don’t follow the guidelines, and they can’t say ‘actually we are not going to that job’. They can’t work from home.

“This is a prime example of the heightened risk facing officers, policing these demonstrations, and potentially this is where somebody has caught the Covid virus and taken it back home to their families.

"These officers are really unwell. They can’t get out of bed. Both are feeling the worst they have ever felt. These are operationally fit and healthy officers. They are not vulnerable people. But Covid has really knocked them for six.”

According to the Government police officers are likely to be vaccinated in phase two of the roll out, meaning they will have to wait for around 32 million others to receive the jab first. “This is not soon enough”, Anna added.

She said officers did not want to jump the queue, but if the vaccines could be supplied to forces, they could administer the injections themselves.

She added: “We have got officers who are really poorly, who have been going out to try and protect communities and they are becoming ill. We are not looking to queue jump. We are looking for that vaccine to be available to police forces. We could administer it ourselves - we have occupational health departments that could vaccinate officers.”