Government should prioritise officers for Covid jabs

26 February 2021

The Government has a moral duty to protect police officers and their families and yet is hiding behind the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) when denying police officers priority access to the Covid vaccine, according to Humberside Police Federation chair Pete Musgrave.

The JCVI has today confirmed that once Phase 1 of the jab roll-out programme, which will see all over 50s offered the vaccination, has been completed Phase 2 will involve three stages covering those aged 40 to 49, 30 to 39 and 18 to 29.

The age-based roll-out programme means that no group of workers will be prioritised as the JCVI believes this could slow it down.

“Our police officers and other emergency workers have been on the frontline of the nation’s response to the pandemic for almost a year so this represents another failure by Government to show its support,” says Pete.

 “Ministers have repeatedly praised police officers for their continued hard work to protect communities, acknowledging that they were under enormous pressure, and even the Home Secretary said she believed officers should be prioritised for the vaccine. But once again it was cheap talk since it had not been backed up by action.

“The Police Federation believes the unique role of officers means they should be prioritised. They can’t always socially distance from the many people they deal with on a daily basis so they can’t always protect themselves as they would want to. 

“The Government could help with that protection by offering them the vaccine. We fully appreciate that the most vulnerable groups had to be the urgent priority group and that has now been achieved yet officers, teachers and other groups of workers are being left out in the cold. It doesn’t make sense.”

National Federation chair John Apter called the JCVI decision ‘a deep and damaging betrayal that will not be forgotten’ and said the announcement showed a complete lack of understanding about policing the pandemic.

“Together with others across policing, we have never said police officers should jump the queue but should be prioritised,” John explained.

“It’s right that the most vulnerable and health and care workers were vaccinated but what about police officers who cannot mitigate against the risks of contracting and spreading this deadly virus? Yet the calls to prioritise policing have been ignored.

“The very nature of policing is unpredictable and means my colleagues often cannot socially distance. They are going into people’s homes, going into hospitals, and having to get up close and personal when helping people or making an arrest.”

The national chair also pointed out that a number of officers had died after contracting the virus while others are reporting sick or self-isolating, affecting forces’ operational resilience.

He added: “Giving police officers the vaccine would not only protect them and their families but also help prevent the spread of this virus. 

“We are sick of warm words and no action by our political leaders who have demanded so much from policing during this pandemic. We will now explore every possible avenue open to us to protect our members from this deadly virus and this complacent Government.”