Police officers react with shock and fury that prisoners will be vaccinated before police

25 February 2021

Police officers have reacted with shock, fury and disbelief to reports that prisoners will receive a vaccine against the deadly Covid-19 virus, ahead of those working in policing.

This could see a bizarre situation where a criminal who is jailed for coughing or spitting at a police officer - threatening to infect them with Covid-19 - will get a vaccine for the virus before the police officer they attacked.

According to the most recent Crown Prosecution Service data, assaults on emergency workers were 'most common coronavirus-related crime' between 1 April and 30 September 2020 with 1,688 offences charged.

Many of these involved police officers being coughed and spat on.

However according to a report in today’s Times newspaper, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has said teachers, police and other key workers should not get priority for Covid jabs.

But that prisoners can be vaccinated en masse.

Neil Mennie, Chairman of Kent Police Federation, said: “It’s fair to say that the decision to go to prison is not a voluntary one and has required extensive work by all involved. This includes victims and witnesses as well as a host of others and involving a number of prosecuting agencies.

“A significant amount of this will comprise of colleagues within policing who have direct contact, not just with the offender, but with those same victims and witnesses. This all comes with an associated risk of catching Covid and although officers will do all they can do to minimise the risk, the best protection remains vaccination.

“It’s not lost on us that this will also not be welcomed by those charged with managing those who are at ‘Her Majesty’s pleasure’.”

Neil added: “The wider law-abiding public are bound to have a view and if ever there was an example of putting the cart before the horse, this is it.

“I am certain that this will be seen an insult to our members who are being patient but will also be very frustrated that the risks they are managing daily appear to be a lower priority than the risk to the offenders they deal with.”

Earlier in February, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told police officers they will have to wait their turn to receive the Covid-19 vaccine - and that they will not be prioritised.

Despite lobbying from the Police Federation, Chief Police Officers, the Met Commissioner and the College of Policing over police officers needing to have a level of priority for the vaccine to keep themselves, their families and the public safe, Mr Hancock said officers will not be prioritised until after groups 1-9, as deemed by the JCVI.

So, they will not be eligible for the vaccine until after the first 32 million people in the country have received it. And that is likely to be May. Officers who fall into the first 9 groups – via age or with underlying health conditions – will receive the vaccine that way.